Importance of Copyrights- Week 7

 

 

 

Importance of Copyrights

 

 

 

 

Copyrights and Creative Commons can be confusing to some people. People see the little c inside of a circle in the corner of a picture or the cc on a picture and they know that means the picture is protected in some way. But most of the time people don't know exactly what all the symbols mean. Since we live in a world where inventions and new ideas are created everyday it is essential for us as educators to teach our student how to use and understand the meaning and difference between all the copyright symbols we see everyday.

 

We must first start with knowing and understanding the different Creative Commons and copyrights ourselves. Because before we can teach about the WWI, we better know WWI like the back of our hand. This same thinking needs to be applied to this subject. For Copyrights, all rights are reserved to the owner of the copyright. All rights reserved means that a person must get direct authorization from the copyright owner to be able to use that image or idea in any way. Creative Commons are a little different. When a person gets a Creative commons license, they are able to modify how many restrictions they would like on their product. There are many symbols associated with Creative Commons license, here is a chart to help distinguish them from each other.

 

 

 

The idea of teaching copyrights is very important for many reasons. Not only does it help them understand that we have to follow certain rules and producers even in the real world, but it also shows them that they should be proud of their work enough to protect it, in any way they see fit.  Learning that there are rules outside of school and home is a valuable thing for us as educators to teach our students. This may seem like a very simple and common thing for our students but this is one tool we can use with them to show them the importance of following rules. As educators we should also encourage creativity and thinking in new ways. At the same time we need to make sure our students know how to protect what is theirs and own what is theirs. Yes, our students should be sharing what they know, but at the same time we want to encourage them to get credit for their work. This is a balancing act with students, to get them to see both sides that are necessary.

 

 

If we let our students ignore the restrictions that are placed on ideas and such, then we fall short of our duties. "This misinformation is harmful, because it discourages kids and teens from following their natural inclination to be innovative and inquisitive."  this quote from teachingcopyright.com shows how much not teaching our students the right thing can actually hurt them in the long run.

  

 

Another important issue that comes along with copyrights is downloading music and movies online. Young people don't see the wrong in downloading these things without charge, because they do not see the consequences immediately. Think might think since it is online, then it must be okay to do. But sadly they are wrong. We as teachers need to teach our students that doing this illegally is wrong because it is stealing. Not only that, but the illegal download can give your computer a virus and compromise your computer entirely.

 

 

Teaching students the fundamentals of protecting work and products is very important and it something a student should know by the time they walk across the stage at their graduation. Knowing the ins and outs of copyrights will not only help them in their academics but it will also help them be successful in their everyday life.