My Goal:

My goal is to inform students, parents, and educators on the potential internet dangers and to provide tools to safeguard our students while using the Internet.

Arrgh!!!!! Are you a Pirate??

Image courtesy of: flickr.com

Students, teachers, and parents are you a Pirate?  No, no, no, not the ocean pirate but the pirate who uses information that is not legally theirs called copyright infringement.  This blog page will inform you on what you can do to make sure that you are not violating any laws or school rules, and to prevent YOU from becoming a pirate! 

What could you get in trouble for downloading????? Let's EXPLORE!!!

What is Plagiarism?
Plagiarism is basically copying someone else's work, thoughts, ideas, images etc., and claiming them as your own.  You have to cite the sources of where you got your information, to give credit where credit is do....to the original author.
To learn more about plagiarism visit this website and learn how you can cite the original author information
http://caspian.switchinc.org/~tutorials/mod6/index.html

Students:
Have you ever been given an assignment where you had to write a paper on a certain topic, or maybe gather information from the Internet?  Did you copy and paste what you found on the Internet right into your paper?  If you have this is PLAGIARISM and CHEATING!  If you are going to use the information from the Internet you must cite where you found the information and give credit to the author.  You can use the information by restating and using your own words, but remember to say something like "I read in this article........." or "The information that I found said.........".  If you are caught cheating it is a punishable offense and you will not get credit, you can read below an excerpt from the Marion County AUP.

As stated in the Marion County Acceptable Use Policy as unauthorized use:
Misrepresenting an individuals identity or sources of communication or data (plagiarism)
Marion County Acceptable Use Policy

What is a Copyright?
Image Courtesy of:  en.wikipedia.org

Copyright is a set of exclusive rights granted to the author or creator of an original work, including the right to copy, distribute and adapt the work. Copyright does not protect ideas, only their expression. (Courtesy of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright )
If something is copyrighted then it is protected for a period of time from other people copying it, editing it, selling it, passing it out or performing it without the author's consent.  Did you find something that you want to use? MidLink Magazine has an awesome website where they provide templates for you to use to ask the author's permission just visit http://www.ncsu.edu/midlink/permission.html . You may use the templates as long as you don't charge money for their use and as long as you give MidLink credit.

What is Fair Use?
Fair use provisions of the copyright law allow for limited copying or distribution of published works without the author's permission in some cases. Examples of fair use of copyrighted materials include quotation of excerpts in a review or critique, or copying of a small part of a work by a teacher or student to illustrate a lesson.(Courtesy of  http://www-sul.stanford.edu/cpyright.html ). How can you tell if copying is allowed by fair use provisions of the Law? The only thing you need to do is follow these simple guidelines: 
  1. The purpose and nature of the use
  2. The nature of the copyrighted work
  3. The nature and substantially of the material used
  4. The effect of use on the potential market for or value of the work
To read more about each of these visit Copyright Law and Fair Use where the above was gathered.

What is Creative Commons?
Image Courtesy of: flickr.com

A licensing concept created by Creative Commons that builds upon traditional copyright practices to define possibilities that exist between the standard "all rights reserved" full copyright and public domain "no rights reserved".  A Creative Commons license lets you dictate how others may use your work. The Creative Commons license allows you to keep your copyright but allows others to copy and distribute your work provided they give you credit and only on the conditions you specify.  For online work you can select a license that generates "Some Rights Reserved" or a "No Rights Reserved" button and statement for your published work. (Courtesy of http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/C/Creative_Commons_license.html )

What is Illegal Downloading?
File sharing is the practice of distributing or providing access to digitally stored information, such as computer programs, multi-media (audio, video), documents, or electronic books. It may be implemented in a variety of storage, transmission, and distribution models. (Courtesy of  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegal_downloading)

How do you get your MUSIC?
Do you visit sites that offer FREE music downloads? Are those websites safe for you to use?  Although downloading music on the Internet seems fast and safe it can also land you in a lot of legal trouble.  Downloading these files illegally on the Internet can have a negative impact on the company that produced them, the artist that created them, not to mention the fines that the illegal downloader can face. 

What is File Sharing?
File sharing is using a program such as Kazaa, Grokster, Limewire, BitTorrent, etc. to send and download music, movies, and other fi les online, often anonymously. Copyrighted music and movie files are frequently shared on these programs, in violation of federal laws. (Courtsey of http://www.bucknell.edu/Documents/ISR/TechSupport/riaa.pdf )


What Could Happen if You Get Caught?
You run the risk of being sued by the RIAA for copyright infringement. You are liable for $150,000 per song. Many defendants have settled with the RIAA for thousands of dollars. The average settlement is approximately $4000. (Courtesy of http://www.bucknell.edu/Documents/ISR/TechSupport/riaa.pdf )

Check out these websites where you can access Free/Inexpensive LEGAL Downloading.....


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