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I was recently interviewed by Jane Park from Creative Commons about some of the ways my students and I use CC licensed content in our classroom projects. We also talked about our recent Q & A Skype session with Creative Commons founder, Lawrence Lessig. The interview is part of the ongoing CC Talks With… series. Ms. Park was especially interested in what motivated me to start using Creative Commons in my classroom in the first place.

As we all know, many students, even middle schoolers, are posting all sorts of content online, as well as downloading content.  Yet many of these students have no idea that it’s illegal to download copyrighted material via peer-to-peer file-sharing sites like Lime Wire. They also are not clear on why they cannot embed copyrighted songs into their videos and post them on YouTube. 

My students and I have been embedding CC licensed content into our various projects for more than two years now. We also post our own content online, some of which is licensed under different CC licenses. By introducing the idea of Creative Commons to students, and allowing them access to CC licensed content, teachers are not only tapping into a wealth of resources, but also helping educate students on basic copyright law.

CC Logo by Creative Commons

Remixes & Copyright Law

Peer-to-Peer File Sharing Sites & Questions About YouTube

One of my film literacy classes had the chance this week to participate in a Skype video conference with Harvard Law Professor Lawrence Lessig. Professor Lessig is an expert in copyright law, and is on the board of directors of Creative Commons, a nonprofit corporation “dedicated to making it easier for people to share and build upon the work of others, consistent with the rules of copyright.”

In his most recent book, Remix, he argues that we shouldn’t criminalize an entire generation of young people with outdated copyright laws. 

It was very gracious of Professor Lessig to spend a half hour taking questions from my 7th graders. I edited the Skype conversation into two separate videos. This Skype session is part of our ongoing conversation about what we can and can’t do on the Internet. As Professor Lessig points out in our conversation, copyright is extremely complicated.