Copyright

This week I learned a lot about what copyright means. I learned that it means taking someone’s work and saving it/using it for our own personal gain. For example, if I saw a really cool documentary that I record and save on my laptop with out permission form the company that made the documentary, I am not following copyright laws. According to this article by ASCD there are for questions you can ask to see if it is fair use. The four questions are:

1. The purpose and character of the use. Will the materials be used non- commercially in a nonprofit education institution?
2. The nature of the work being copied. Is the work published or unpublished? Is it factual or creative?
3. The amount of the work being used. Are you using a little, a lot, or all of a work
4. What would happen if everyone were to do what you are proposing? Would you deprive the copyright owner of a sale or harm the value in other ways?

The type of media that is being copied matters. This is because there are different copyright laws for different types of media. This is because each media device is so different; print’s copyright laws are different then videotape’s copyright laws.