The blog post that I published yesterday in which I listed people and organizations who have recently stolen my work has elicited quite a few responses already. A couple of those responses have included, “you were given credit at the end.” That comment shows a baseline misunderstanding of copyright.

Copying and pasting entire blog posts is a copyright violation even if you put a link to the original source at the end. That is akin to a student who copies and pastes an entire webpage then at the end give a link to the source at the end of it. You wouldn’t accept that essay (at least I wouldn’t and I have had students try it) and I won’t accept it when someone tries that with my blog posts.

So that this blog post doesn’t become just another “Richard rants about copyright” post, here are some resources that you can use to help educate yourself, your students, and your colleagues about copyright.

Six weeks Beth Holland and I hosted a free webinar in which we talked about copyright concerns that frequently appear in schools. As you can see the video of the webinar (embedded below) it was a casual conversation during which we shared some stories, fielded some questions, and shed some light on common misconceptions about copyright.

The following two videos from Common Craft provide excellent overviews of these topics.

For a more in-depth look at copyright for educators, watch Dr. Wesley Fryer’s Slideshare on the topic. Eight years after he released it, it’s still one of the best resources on the topic.

Taking the Mystery Out of Copyright is a resource for kids produced by the Library of Congress. Taking the Mystery Out of Copyright is intended to help elementary school students understand the purposes and functions of copyright. There are four sections to Taking the Mystery Out of Copyright. The first section, Copyright Exposed, features a short cartoon that explains how copyright protects artists. Files on Record, the second section, chronicles important historical developments in copyright law. The third section, Reading the Fine Print, answers common questions and addresses common myths about copyright laws. The last section, Steps to Copyright, instructs students on registering their own works for copyright protection.


Disclosure: I have an in-kind business relationship with Common Craft.