Copyright

Copyright in today's education is a big deal. People need to be paid for the work they create and when people take, steal or borrow other people's work without prior permission then a problem is created. There is a difference between plagarism and copyright. You can plagarize an authors work and also violate copyright if the work is protected under a copyright law.
The biggest thing that learned from our reading is that the Copyright Act of 1976 does not protect works published or created prior to 1976. In our group work session Chris and I used the scenario about the teacher who copied a whole book that was published in 1970. This book was fair use and in public domain because it was not published after 1796 and it also did not include a copyright notice when it was published.
I think that the way copyright laws are written are fair. People who create works need to recieve money for what they make. I am a musician and if my music is under copyright I wouldn't want someone else to steal my music for free. Copyright is a good thing if it is used properly. If a person gets permission to used a piece of work and go's through the proper steps than it is ok to use someone else's work as long as the sources are cited.
As a teacher in my classroom to make sure the materials I use fall under fair use is to clear what I use with the publisher first. I need to cover my basis and get everything I use cleared. I need to follow the copyright laws as they are written and always cite where I get my resources and materials.
Finally I will also try to monitor how my students use copyright in my classroom. Copyright violation is not exactly like plagarism but they are similar. My students will be taught what is right and what is wrong. They will learn what copyright laws are and what plagarism is to know the difference between them. If my students follow the same steps to protect them selves as i do then they will be ok.