Copyright for Teachers and Librarians in the 21st Century

Citation

Esposito, J.R. (2013), "Copyright for Teachers and Librarians in the 21st Century", Collection Building, Vol. 32 No. 1, pp. 48-48. https://doi.org/10.1108/cb.2013.32.1.48.1

In her chapter on the internet and copyright law Rebecca Butler states, “The twenty‐first century is a challenging period to be a K‐12 educator.” She is correct, and her revision of this title, originally published in 2004, as a “handbook on copyright law for teachers, librarians, technology coordinators, administrators, public librarians, and others who work with K‐12 students” is a detail‐driven manual for copyright issues at all educational levels. The major focus of the revisions from the 2004 volume deal with the wide‐range of changes affected in copyright compliance and driven by technology, social media, and different communication formats.

Butler's book is divided into two parts: Essential Concepts of Copyright Law and Specific Applications of Copyright Law. Each chapter is structured to discuss basic introductory concepts, fair use applications, public domain considerations, operational flowcharts, documentation and licenses, permissions, “you create it, you own it,” infringements and penalties, international copyright law, avoiding copyright problems and detailed references. The language is easy to understand and directed to specific case studies within the K‐12 environment. That said, the one fault with the volume is the discussion of international copyright. It is interesting but out‐of‐scope for the types of uses K‐12 practitioners will usually have to address, especially in the classroom.

Two chapters of special importance are Chapters 2 and 3, Fair Use and Public Domain respectively. The Fair Use chapter focuses on when you need to ask for permission and is one of the best descriptions of “limits” within the written copyright universe. Butler identifies four factors: purpose and character, nature of work, amount of work, and marketability. She then details the educational multimedia fair use guidelines with a specific emphasis on classroom applications. Chapter 3, on Public Domain, details the timeframe for works to fall within the public domain, knowing if copyright has been renewed, borrowing and access rules, as well as format considerations. These two chapters form a strong, operational “best practices” manual for educational institutions. They also represent Butler at her strongest and best as both a writer and a copyright instructor.

Throughout the volume Butler offers very practical advice such as ways to avoid copyright problems; how to deal with those who would have you break the law; and how to teach/train students, colleagues, administrators and others about copyright law. She also offers step‐by‐step workflows that allow a user to answer yes/no questions and go to the next decision point realizing that each step influences the manner in which a work can (or cannot) be utilized within the classroom.

Butler's work should be front and center in all school libraries and media centers and made available extensively for faculty. This recommendation is especially true in curriculum areas where a heavy emphasis is placed on web sites, Facebook entries, blogs, wikis and social communication strategies over the internet.