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Collection: Electronic Frontier Foundation
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: From the framers of the Constitution, who were worried about books and pamphlets, to present-day stakeholders, who are concerned about DVDs, MP3s, and the Internet, the story of copyright law is an ongoing struggle to balance copyright holders' rights with and the public interest. New technologies constantly challenge that balance.
In this lesson, students will examine the historical relationship between copyright law and technological innovation in the U.S. Working in teams, they will research a technology and assess how it may have affected users and copyright holders, as well as whether or not a public controversy resulted from its use. With this historical context in mind, students will then examine current copyright policy debates about music downloading and file-sharing.
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: In this lesson, students will begin to explore the often-perplexing world of copyrights by defining the essential elements of U.S. copyright law. Beginning with the Copy Quiz game and a free-form class discussion, students will tease out collective and individual ideas about the rights of creators and users. Then students will be asked to reflect on their experiences making and using creative works online and write down the questions that they want answered by the end of the unit.
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: In this lesson, students will focus on defining the concept, purpose, and impact of fair use in U.S. copyright law. Students will refine their understanding of fair use through the lens of the increasingly popular remix culture of music, visual art, and video.
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: Students will challenge their knowledge of copyright law and fair use and apply it as stakeholders in the legal drama of Walt Disney Studios v. Faden.
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: In this lesson, students will examine the state of Internet file sharing and copyright law. Building on the homework exercise from Lesson 2, students will decipher the various players who have a vested interest in the heated peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing debate: technological innovators, the entertainment industry, lawyers, courts, educators, and, of course, the file-sharers.
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract: As today's tech-savvy teens become increasingly involved with technology and the Internet for learning, work, civic engagement, and entertainment, it is vital to ensure that they understand their legal rights and responsibilities under copyright law and also how the law affects creativity and innovation.
This curriculum is designed to give teachers a comprehensive set of tools to educate students about copyright while incorporating activities that exercise a variety of learning skills. Lesson topics include: the history of copyright law; the relationship between copyright and innovation; fair use and its relationship to remix culture; peer-to-peer file sharing; and the interests of the stakeholders that ultimately affect how copyright is interpreted by copyright owners, consumers, courts, lawmakers, and technology innovators.
The lesson plan concludes with a mock trial that tests the students' understanding of copyright and its limitations and encourages them to consider the positions of each party involved.
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