Code of Best Practice in Fair Use for Media Literacy

 1. What is the difference between Media in Education vs Media Literacy Education? Teachers have always used texts, now including audiovisual and digital material, to convey facts and information. From time to time, the school is also a venue for entertainment, as when a film is screened to reward the class. These activities, however, are not media literacy education. Rather than transforming the media material in question, they use that content for essentially the same purposes for which it originally was intended—to instruct or to entertain. In many or even most cases, of course, these uses of media will not have significant copyright implications, either because the content in question has been licensed or because it is covered by one of the specific exemptions for teachers in Sections 110(1) and (2) of the Copyright Act (for “face-to-face” in the classroom and equivalent distance practices in distance education).Teachers involved in media literacy education may, of course, sometimes make use of licensed materials or take advantage of the provisions of Section 110. But this guide addresses another set of issues: the transformative uses of copyright materials in media literacy education that can flourish only with a robust understanding of fair use.
2. What social bargain is at the heart of Fair Use? In fact, the cultural value of copying is so well established that it is written into the social bargain at the heart of copyright law. The bargain is this: we as a society give limited property rights to creators to encourage them to produce culture; at the same time, we give other creators the chance to use that same copyrighted material, without permission or payment, in some circumstances.
3. Why is Fair Use more important today? As copyright protects more works for longer periods than ever before, creators face new challenges: licenses to incorporate copyrighted sources become more expensive and more difficult to obtain—and sometimes are simply unavailable. As a result, fair use is more important today than ever before.
4. What are the two key questions judges use to determine Fair Use? 
• Did the unlicensed use “transform” the material taken from the copyrighted work by using it for a different purpose than that of the original, or did it just repeat the work for the same intent and value as the original?
• Was the material taken appropriate in kind and amount, considering the nature of the copyrighted work and of the use?
5. A teacher shows a movie of the Lion King and asks students to notice how the animals in the movie reflect racial stereotypes. Is this Fair Use? Why? Yes, because it is being used for educational purposes and the teacher is making a lesson out of it.
6. Which principle relates most strongly to the digital story you created in class? Explain. Four: STUDENT USE OF COPYRIGHTED MATERIALS IN THEIR OWN ACADEMIC AND CREATIVE WORK, because I used music and images to express my knowledge.
7. Are there limitations to the amount of pictures, length of music, or video that can be used in a multimedia project? Yes, there are limitations.
8. Are there limitations to the amount of pictures, length of music, or video that can be used in a multimedia project? If you are not sure if the materials you are using are protected by Fair Use, then you should contact them and make sure.
9. Should educators try to change the policies in their school if they are not in line with Fair Use doctrine? They should at least say something about it to prevent any problems. 
10. What common myth about Fair Use surprised you the most?
MYTH: IF I’M NOT MAKING ANY MONEY OFF IT, IT’S FAIR USE. (AND IF I AM MAKING MONEY OFF IT, IT’S NOT.) truth: “Noncommercial use” can be a plus in fair use analysis, but its scope is hard to define. If educators or learners want to share their work only with a class (or another defined, closed group) they are in a favorable position. However, some more public uses may be unfair even if no money is exchanged. So if work is going to be shared widely, it is good to be able to rely on transformativeness. As the cases show, a transformative new work can be highly commercial in intent and effect and qualify under the fair use doctrine