Copyright infringement is a very real problem because it’s so easy to copy online material.
This is why it’s important that learners understand the ethical and legal requirement to respect the creative work of others.
You could ask them to research key rights and licensing terminology, before they source any materials.
You could also challenge them to evaluate potential copyright infringement scenarios.
People’s Collection Wales provides useful resources for incorporating activities like these in your lesson plans.
Personalise the subject of digital rights for your leaners. How would they feel if someone copied their work and passed it off as their own?
Ask them to discuss their own online activities. What creative works do they use?
Make it clear that the terms ‘plagiarism’ and ‘piracy’ represent unethical and potentially illegal activities. Misusing digital content can have serious consequences.
Teachers should model good behaviour. Give credit when using copyrighted teaching resources in class.
Use a clear and consistent referencing system for crediting sources in your work, and get your learners to do the same.
Learners need to know about digital rights, so that they can act responsibly as content creators and users of digital work beyond school. They should know that the right to re-use copyrighted materials for educational purposes through fair dealing is an exception.
If they re-use the creative works of others in most other contexts, they need to identify the creator, seek their permission, credit them, and pay them if necessary.
In this short film for teachers Jennifer Jones explains how important it is that students understand the rules of online copyright.
It is very easy to copy material online but in most cases it is also unethical and illegal, and can have serious consequences.
Teacher notes
Students need to be encouraged to respect creativity – how would they feel if their work was copied?
Teachers can help by always giving credit to sources in class and also getting students to research the origins of material before using it.
Students also need to understand the terms plagiarism and piracy. In some cases students are allowed to copy work for educational purposes, but in most cases permission needs to be obtained from the creator, and credit and payment given.
More from this series:
Online behaviour and cyberbullying. video
In this short film for teachers Rhys ap William explains how to help students recognise negative online behaviour.
Communication. video
In this short film for teachers Jennifer Jones discusses the need to encourage students to make the most of the digital communication tools available to them.
Collaboration. video
In this short film for teachers Rhys ap William explains how using digital collaboration tools enhances group learning and collaborative skills.
