In this lesson, students work individually and make informed judgments on 7 different copyright and fair use scenarios. Students watch two explainer videos to learn basics of the U.S. copyright and fair use doctrine before coming to the class. The structure of the activity provides students with chances to practice steps of the fair use analysis process that students were introduced to and learn the analysis process in more detail. At the end of the lesson students reflect on their experiences with the activity and make connections to the types of copyright scenarios they will be encountering.
This lesson is a fun introduction to the traditional and potential use and misuse of copyrighted materials in classroom settings. A lot of misinformation and misconceptions about the fair use doctrine exist in the educational settings. Some of the popular classroom practices actually violate the U.S. copyright law. The 7 scenarios I introduce in this lesson address the common fair use misunderstandings and help students analyze the scenarios in the proper way.