My name is Kate Davis and I am working towards my MLIS degree at ODU. I plan to graduate in May 2022 when I will officially be a school librarian! Currently, I work in the computer lab at an elementary school in Stafford. I have two sons, a sophomore at VT as well as a junior in high school, and a 6-year-old golden retriever named Hero!
I didn’t realize that copyright exists automatically. I thought it was something that an author had to register for in order to acquire those protections. It seems quite beneficial to authors, especially those just starting out who may not be familiar with the specifics of copyright laws, that they have some type of safeguard to protect their work and maintain control over how it is distributed. In the computer lab at the elementary school level we teach second through fifth graders that they must “give credit” when they use words or images that they didn’t create themselves.
In today’s social media intense world, I wonder how much control each user maintains when they post something online. When someone uploads a video to You Tube, since it is a public forum, is that person automatically giving up any control they have over the content in their posts? Today it seems that technology has made an already complex set of copyright and fair use laws even more difficult to understand.
May 22, 2020 at 4:00 am
Copyright is really interesting to think about in regards to social media. I think the social media platform is simply a host, almost like a bulletin board or art studio, where the creator is displaying their content, whether they are well-branded YouTube videos such as those by Alice Keeler or mundane pictures of the nachos I had for dinner. I still own my nacho picture, but I tack it up on the proverbial bulletin board that is Instagram for others to look at. However, I do feel lessons for students about giving credit are valuable to relate to social media. Someone else might share or repost the picture of my nachos, but doing so without giving me credit would be a copyright violation. As a side note, since I didn’t register the copyright it and I’m not generating any revenue, I likely wouldn’t pursue violators, but I might tell them “this is nacho picture!” 😀
May 22, 2020 at 1:22 pm
I am laughing about your “nacho” picture, but at the same time this is such a great example! We also talk a lot with students about their digital footprint and how they really need to stop and think prior to posting anything. It seems these are lessons better learned at an earlier age and will hopefully stick with them throughout their lives!