News and Advice on copyright issues for librarians and educators from School Library Journal.
Never the Twain Shall Meet: Can an educator share his recording of 'Huck Finn'? By Carrie Russell - 02/01/2010
I’m thinking of having my class read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. I own an audio version of it, but we can’t afford to purchase one for everybody. Is it OK for a number of students, say three or more at a time, to listen to my copy on their iPods or MP3 players? Isn’t that equivalent to having a few students share a textbook in the classroom? —Mike Dugan, middle s...
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Who Owns Students’ Works? Some appropriate use policies aren’t altogether appropriate. By Carrie Russell - 12/01/2009
Many of the appropriate use policies I’ve seen say something like, “All student work created on district equipment is the property of the school district.” Is that legal? Does a school own the works its students have created for class? —Kendall Heide, library media specialist Maize South High School, Wichita, KS An appropriate use policy is a statement meant to reinforc...
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Copyright and the DVD Dilemma By Judith C. Koss - 10/01/2009
Is it legal to copy a DVD onto my school district’s server? As general counsel for a company that publishes and distributes educational videos and sells video-on-demand servers that digitally deliver them to the classroom, I get that question from educators all the time. And the answer is: it depends.
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The Producers By Carrie Russell - 10/01/2009
We’ve been brainstorming about how to use Flip cameras in our library. One idea we came up with was to use them to make 30-second videos with well-known action figures, like Bella and Edward from the “Twilight” series. Would that be a copyright infringement? Also, we’d like to post the videos on our Web site.
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Sticky Standards: AASL requires permission to use 21st-C standards sparking backlash Lauren Barack - 08/01/2009
The American Association of School Librarians’ (AASL) decision to require permission—and potentially a fee—to commercially use its Standards for the 21st-Century Learner (bit.ly/lWd9B) has generated ire among its members. “At first I was annoyed, but now getting mad,” posted librarian Beth Frise on Twitter.
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Standard Bearers: For AASL's standards, freedom needs to trump control Brian Kenney, Editor-in-Chief - 08/01/2009
Of the many debates that raged during last month’s American Library Association’s Annual Conference in Chicago (a fantastically successful gathering by any measure) none were as virulent as those surrounding the use of the new Standards for the 21st-Century Learner (see “Sticky Standards,” p.
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A New Script: Can works of fiction be adapted for Readers' Theater? By Carrie Russell - 08/01/2009
As part of a program for young people, we’d like to adapt a children’s book for Readers’ Theater. The resulting script will be presented in a school or public library. I’ve come across a lot of helpful tips on how to transform a book into script, but I haven’t found anything on copyright issues.
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2009 National Book Awards On the red carpet with nominees in the Young People's Literature category.
Photos by Rocco Staino.
SLJ Covers 2009 A bigger and better view of SLJ's covers from 2009
BookExpo America 2009: SLJ's Day of Dialog School Library Journal held a Day of Dialog in conjunction with the annual BookExpo America on May 28, 2009 at the Brooklyn Public Library. Full story: bit.ly/1a0G7o
Rockin’, Rollin’ and Ridin’ with Rebecca Frezza & Big Truck. CD. 23 min. Prod. by Big Truck Music. Dist. by CDBaby.com. 2009. $8.99.
Gr 1-5–A veteran of Noggin Channel and PBS Kids, Frezza created these eight exceptional rock ‘n roll songs for elementary grade children who are too old for Raffi, but not old enough for adult pop music.
Friends and colleagues of the late Effie Lee Morris may enjoy this photo of the children's librarian, which Nicholas Glass, founder and executive director of Teachingbooks.net, recently found on his computer. It was taken at the 2009 ALA Annual Conference in Chicago, and features (from left) Ashley Bryan, Christopher Myers, and Morris, also an advocate for children's literature and library service to youngsters with impaired vision, who died of cancer on November 10, 2009.
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Rockin’, Rollin’ and Ridin’ with Rebecca Frezza & Big Truck. CD. 23 min. Prod. by Big Truck Music. Dist. by CDBaby.com. 2009. $8.99. 
