Copyright - an important issue for teachers

Copyright is an important and, at times, confusing issue for all teachers. For example, many teachers think they can copy up to 10% of a textbook without any associated costs. Whilst Part VB of the Copyright Act allows teachers to copy up to 10% of the textbook, the NSW Department of Education and Communities does still pay the writer of the book for the portion copied. This includes paper and digital copies. With more and more schools now storing resources on school intranets and learning management systems (e.g. Moodle), a clear understanding of copyright is vital.
To support teachers in their understanding of copyright, we have included the following resources on our website:
• Copyright FAQs – summarises ‘the basics’, for individual teachers
• SMART Notebook presentation – examines the importance of “getting it right” with regard to copyright in the Languages classroom. Good for prompting discussion at faculty meetings. Note: If you are having trouble downloading the Notebook, right-click on the link and select 'Save As'. In the drop-down menu at the bottom, select 'Save as type: All files', then add .notebook to the end of the file name.
• Copyright in the digital world (PowerPoint) – provides comprehensive advice for all educators.
• Copyright for teachers – links to key copyright websites (includes a student-friendly version).

Copyright-free images
• Microsoft Clip Art: Teachers are free to use Microsoft Clip Art images in the resources they create for the classroom, as long as these resources are not sold.
• Creative Commons enables teachers to look for ‘free for educational use’ images from a range of websites, including Flickr.
• Photopin provides a similar service, making searching and attribution simple. Excellent for bloggers who like an easy-to-use interface.
photo credit: opensourceway via photopin cc