Report: The Cost of Copyright Confusion for Media Literacy.

Report says many teachers, schools define 'fair use' of digital materials too narrowly by Meris Stansbury.

In too many classrooms across the country, sweaty palms and the fears associated with a call to the principal's office aren't just student afflictions: Educators, especially those who teach media literacy, are experiencing a collective anxiety about what is legal and what is not when using digital images and recordings in their lessons, according to a new report.
Media-literacy instructors especially depend on the use of news broadcasts, advertising, reality TV shows, film snippets, and a host of other recordings to teach analytical skills to their students. Yet, the goals of media-literacy education--to cultivate critical thinking about media and its role in society, and to strengthen students' creative communications skills--are compromised by unnecessary restrictions and a lack of understanding about copyright law, says the report, titled "The Cost of Copyright Confusion for Media Literacy."
Researchers at Temple University's Media Education Lab, American University Washington College of Law's Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property, and American University School of Communication's Center for Social Media interviewed 63 educators, educational media producers, and leaders of media-literacy organizations. They found that nearly all were confused about "fair use" and their rights as educators to use media materials.
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"The Cost of Copyright Confusion for Media Literacy"
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Source: eSchool News