Module 10: Ethics and Copyright

The following scenarios represent some of the ethical and copyright issues to consider for
distance education. How would you respond in each of these scenarios?
Scenario 1 (Digital media)
The students in Mrs. Casselburgs class were asked to write a paper about the human impact to
the environment. In this assignment, the students were asked to synthesize the information from
their discussion board posts, reading assignments and independent research regarding the topic.
In addition to his independent research, Samuel used some of the comments that were posted by
several of his classmates on the discussion board. Samuel did not think that it was necessary to
include an APA reference for these comments in his paper because they were comments from the
posts on blackboard for his distance education course. These comments were viewed by the
students in his distance education course. The criteria or the four factor test according to
Copyright Connection is

The purpose and character of use

The nature of the copyrighted work
The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a
whole
The effect of the use on the market or potential market for the original work
(Four factor test, 2014)

Should Samuel cite the blackboard discussion as a reference in his paper?

Scenario 2 (Digital Images)
Mrs. Williams is updating the webpage for her astronomy course with information about the
phases of the moon for the next few months. She is planning to post a moon phase calendar that
she found on the internet. While searching the internet, Mrs. Williams noticed a few moon phase
calendars that had copyright notices attached to them or even a monetary fees associated with
them. She decided to use one of the calendars that did not have a fee or a copyright symbol
associated with it. How should Mrs. Williams proceed? Should she consider the criteria for
copyrighted digital images on the internet when posting the moon phase calendar for her class?
The criteria or the four factor test according to Copyright Connection is

The purpose and character of use

The nature of the copyrighted work
The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a
whole
The effect of the use on the market or potential market for the original work
(Four factor test, 2014)

Scenario 3 (Video)
Mr. Bernard is preparing the lessons on the chemistry section for his 8th grade science
homebound students. The online teacher resource for this class has several videos that are really
good for this unit. Mr. Bernard is planning to save these videos to his class page for the students
to view. Mr. Bernard has not checked to see if the school has the rights to use these videos
without restrictions. How should Mr. Bernard proceed before posting these items to his website
for the homebound students? The criteria or the four factor test according to Copyright
Connection is

The purpose and character of use

The nature of the copyrighted work
The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a
whole
The effect of the use on the market or potential market for the original work
(Four factor test, 2014)

Scenario 4 (Printed Material)

Susie is in Mrs. Durans Freshman Distance Education English class. Susie has not received her
book for this class yet. Mrs. Duran finds out that Susie and several of the students in the distance
education class have not received their textbooks for her course that began on Monday. Mrs.
Duran decides to copy the 50 page book to place on her webpage since it is the main resource for
her course that the students will need this semester. Does this meet the criteria or four factor
test? The criteria or the four factor test according to Copyright Connection is

The purpose and character of use

The nature of the copyrighted work
The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a
whole
The effect of the use on the market or potential market for the original work
(Four factor test, 2014)

Scenario 5 (Course Websites)

Dr. Williams located the website for another educator that she must use a login and password to
access the documents. Dr. Williams downloaded several of the videos and documents from this
site and placed them on her website for the distance education class to use. Dr. Williams has a
password protected location on her webpage for the students to access this information. Does
this meet the criteria or four factor test? The criteria or the four factor test according to
Copyright Connection is

The purpose and character of use

The nature of the copyrighted work
The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a
whole
The effect of the use on the market or potential market for the original work
(Four factor test, 2014)

Scenario 6 (Internet Resources)

Mr. Suttons distance education students are writing a paper for Red Ribbon Week essay contest.
Nina is writing a paper on why we should not use drugs. During her research, Nina found a
quote to assist her with her paper that was located on the internet. She did not cite this source in
her paper because the comments were very similar in her own thoughts about why students
should not use drugs. Does this meet the criteria or four factor test? The criteria or the four
factor test according to Copyright Connection is

The purpose and character of use

The nature of the copyrighted work
The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a
whole
The effect of the use on the market or potential market for the original work
(Four factor test, 2014)

Reference:
Four factor test. (n.d.). Retrieved November 23, 2014, from
http%3A%2F%2Fdepts.washington.edu%2Fuwcopy%2FCopyright_Law%2FFair_Use%
2FFour.php