Judge Temporarily Halts Publication of Catcher Follow-Up By Lauren Barack - 06/17/2009
Holden Caulfield’s return to the printed page was temporarily stayed yesterday when a federal judge issued a restraining order halting publication of a book meant to bring J.D. Salinger’s protagonist back to life.
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Tale of the Tape: Can Noncommercial TV Recordings Be Shown in School? By Carrie Russell - 06/01/2009
I just discovered that individual episodes of educational television series, like Schoolhouse Rock!, can be purchased from iTunes. Is it legal to show them in the classroom? —Maxine R. Weisz, librarian/district library coordinator Pilgrim Park Middle School, Brookfield, WI Probably not. When you signed up for iTunes and clicked “I accept,” you most likely agreed to limit your...
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'Emily the Strange' Creators File Copyright Suit By Rocco Staino - 05/27/2009
Why would the creators of the popular goth girl character Emily the Strange sue the authors of a book from the 1970s featuring a girl who looks very similar to Emily?
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Lights, Camera, Action! Is It Fine to Film Folks Reading Picture Books Out Loud? By Carrie Russell - 04/01/2009
Several teachers want to make podcasts of some of the poems and short stories in one of our textbooks. They plan to post the audio files online for students to access. I looked at the TEACH Act, but the wording is confusing. Can you please let me know if their plan is legit? —Randall Krichbaum, librarian Vermilion (OH) High School The TEACH Act (Section 110[2]) says that educators who wo...
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ALA Releases Copyright Lessons for School Librarians By Debra Lau Whelan - 02/25/2009
Copyright. Plagiarism. Fair Use. They’re all important issues in the classroom. But do you and your students really understand their true meaning?
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A Textbook Example: What not to do when books are scarce and money is slim By Carrie Russell - 02/01/2009
Since we don’t have enough textbooks for every student, our principal says it’s fine to scan one of the books (or at least the seven or so chapters that we plan to use) and post the material on our school’s Web site or email it to the 85 percent of our students who have online access.
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Steve Vander Ark’s ‘Lexicon’ to Hit Bookstores on January 16 By Debra Lau Whelan - 12/17/2008
Looks like a print version of The Harry Potter Lexicon may see the light of day after all—albeit a different version than the one originally intended for publication.
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Copyright 101 for Educators 12/01/2008
Do you often question whether it's OK to include portions of a book, film, or song in your classroom lesson? What about whether YouTube can be used as a teaching tool? Hopefully, librarians will have a clearer understanding of copyright law with the new guide “The Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education.
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Local Limits: Many schools have created their own copyright guidelines, but are they binding? By Carrie Russell - 12/01/2008
One of our history teachers purchased a book he’d like to share with his students. How much of the text is he allowed to copy? Also, if he copies a library book (as opposed to his own book), does that affect the amount of text he can reproduce? —Rich Luttenberger, educational media specialist Morris Knolls High School, Rockaway, NJ Congress included a few examples of fair use in Se...
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Vander Ark Sunk 10/01/2008
Steve Vander Ark won't be publishing The Harry Potter Lexicon after all. U.S. District Judge Robert Patterson has ruled in favor of author J. K. Rowling, who sued Vander Ark last November to stop publication of his book. The print version of The Harry Potter Lexicon would have been drawn verbatim from the material on Vander Ark's Web site, one of the most comprehensive encyclopedic listings of...
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A Common Cover-up By Carrie Russell - 10/01/2008
We’d like to display our DVDs—just the cases, not the contents. Can we make copies of the original covers (which have the bar codes) to circulate along with the actual discs? —Susan Clayton, assistant county librarian Lake County Library, Lakeport, CA Yes, it’s fine to make copies of the covers.
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An Unplanned Problem By Carrie Russell - 08/01/2008
After we took our 11th and 12th graders to see the movie Juno, one of our teachers posted a link to the film’s script. Since the screenplay is for sale online and at bookstores, is that OK? When I told him that downloading the entire script for free might be a problem, he replied, “It’s a gray area—it’s alright.
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Carrie on Copyright: Rules of the Game By Carrie Russell - 06/01/2008
Lots of school and public libraries are hosting gaming tournaments, featuring popular video games like Guitar Hero and Madden Football. Since these games are intended for home use, isn’t that similar to purchasing a movie and showing it to a large audience? —Curtis L. Clark, library media specialist Harrisonville (MO) Middle School Everyone seems to be asking that question! Video g...
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Carrie on Copyright: Bet Your Bottom Dollar By Carrie Russell - 04/01/2008
Is it OK for my language arts students to listen to an audiobook from the public library? —Jeanne LaMoore, media specialist Middle School West, Chaska, MN Absolutely! If you work in a nonprofit educational institution, audiobooks, CDs, art slides, and videos may be used in the “face-to-face classroom” without prior authorization from the copyright holder (Section 110 [1]).
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Judge Rules That Turnitin Does Not Violate Students' Copyrights Joan Oleck - 03/31/2008
Four Virginia and Arizona high school students hoping to score a legal hit against Turnitin have been rebuffed: a federal district court judge in Virginia recently threw out their lawsuit, ruling that the plagiarism detection company does not violate the copyright of students, even though it stores digital copies of their essays to check future submissions for academic dishonesty.
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Card Wins Edwards Award By Staff - 02/01/2008
If a well-known author writes and speaks about gays and lesbians in a way that many interpret to be anti-gay, should he be given an award that honors his outstanding lifetime contribution to writing for teens? Librarians, authors, and academics have been debating that complex question since January 14, when this year’s Margaret A.
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Now Hear This: Carrie on Copyright By Carrie Russell - 02/01/2008
We broadcast our school’s morning announcements on a closed-circuit video system. During the broadcasts, we show student artwork and play various types of music—jazz, classical, opera, folk, etc.—from our library’s CD collection. Are we in compliance with the copyright law? —Pam Lilley, media specialist Hawk Ridge Elementary, Charlotte, NC Transmitting music over ...
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A Stanford Lawyer Argues 'Fair Use' for TheHarry Potter Lexicon Joan Oleck - 12/11/2007 Harry Potter fans are well aware that J. K. Rowling and Warner Bros. have filed a lawsuit charging copyright infringement by Steve Vander Ark, the Michigan-based creator of the online Harry Potter Lexicon. Last week, a Stanford Law School think tank joined the fray—on Vander Ark's side.
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Carrie on Copyright: The Berne Ultimatum By Carrie Russell - 12/01/2007
We're a private independent school in Austria. We have students from 58 countries and teachers from about a dozen nations.
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