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2.2 Legal considerations

Whether you find resources for teaching and learning on a favourite website, from a colleague or a social network, there are a number of things you need to take into account before using them. As well as ensuring the resource is of a high quality and the source reliable, you also need to consider some legal issues surrounding their reuse. You are not necessarily free to use and/or modify a resource simply because it is freely accessible on the internet. Issues of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and copyright must be taken into account.

Often resources protected by copyright can only be used in whole or in part with the permission of the owner. The rules on copyright become more complex in an online context because it is so easy to access, copy and transfer electronic information. Anything you find on the web, whether text, an image, video clip or piece of audio, ‘belongs’ to someone else, and you should check the copyright statement, if there is one, to ascertain what you can legally do with the material.

Using material you find on the web has been made easier in recent years through Creative Commons [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] which provides a simple system of licensing to enable people to share and re-use information easily. This is a straightforward system that enables you to license your work up front and so works particularly well if you are sharing material via your own website or blog. Alternatively, there are some repository websites such as TES Connect or iTunes U that host resources created by individuals and organisations under pre-agreed copyright licenses, enabling educators to download, reuse and adapt them to suit their own needs.

Activity 5

Timing: 15 minutes

Read the ‘Conduct’ and ‘Rights in posted content’ sections of the TES Connect Terms and Conditions that relate to both using and sharing resources found on the website and answer the questions that follow.

a. 

a. True


b. 

b. False


The correct answer is b.

b. 

Correct

The accuracy, integrity or quality of the resources is the responsibility of the individual or organisation that uploaded it. It is therefore important to ensure you carefully review any resources before using them.


a. 

a. True


b. 

b. False


The correct answer is b.

b. 

Correct

It is the responsibility of the individual or organisation who uploaded the resource to ensure they have the appropriate copyrights. As a result it is important you consider the resource carefully before reusing it. For example, if a resource contains a famous piece of music or film clip, consider carefully whether the resource creator had the right to use that material before sharing it.


a. 

a. True


b. 

b. False


The correct answer is b.

b. 

Correct

You can share your resource elsewhere too. By uploading the resource you are granting the right for others to use, modify, re-use in part, distribute and publish your resource in any format, but under a non-exclusive licence (correct at the time of publishing).