Teaching Copyright through Pop Culture for Public Scholarship-Based Instruction
Loading...
Date
2022-10-15
Authors
Gaede, Franny
Thornhill, Kate
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Rowman & Littlefield
Abstract
As instructors have embraced project-based learning and students have engaged in remix and creator culture, digital scholarship librarians at the University of Oregon have sought to build digital fluency and technological self-efficacy through instruction. While instructors frequently seek support for teaching technology tools, many who wish to create public-facing projects with their students recognize the importance of introducing fair use, copyright, and the ethics of engaging with different kinds of intellectual property, including traditional knowledge within closed cultural systems.
While specific lessons are as diverse as the disciplines adopting public scholarship, copyright and fair use instruction in the United States tends to rest on the same basic principles. There exist many free course modules ready for adaption and adoption if asynchronous instruction is possible and we have found that heavy emphasis on the four factors guiding fair use outside of class provide an excellent foundation for in-class activities and discussion.
Case law in the United States has shaped our understanding of fair use and that case law is embedded in our cultural history. That being said, in the 2020s, many of the parties involved have been relegated to history and/or irrelevancy, so finding of-the-moment examples on social media and in the news becomes more important. These modern examples allow students to consider copyright from the perspective of both creators and consumers and as scholars and private individuals.
We have paid special attention to working with traditional knowledge in the context of copyright and fair use, noting that just because one may have legal permission to use something doesn’t mean that it’s ethical – the case of Navajo Nation vs. Urban Outfitters Navajo Nation v. Urban Outfitters as one example. We pay particular attention to the work of Trevor Reed in this context. We teach Local Contexts Traditional Knowledge (TK) and Biocultural (BC) Labels and how to read and interpret rights statements from cultural heritage institutions to determine permissions for reuse.
Other case studies included in this chapter include: using Creative Commons-licensed materials in a student project; licensing a student-created project with a Creative Commons license; leading a class discussion based on a pop culture fair use activity; and integrating open access and scholarly communication into discussions of copyright in pop culture contexts.
Description
Keywords
copyright, library instruction, public scholarship, traditional knowledge, Creative Commons, fair use
Citation
Gaede, Franny, and Kate Thornhill. “Teaching Copyright through Pop Culture for Public Scholarship-Based Instruction.” Integrating Pop Culture into the Academic Library, edited by Melissa E. Johnson et al., Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, MD, 2022, pp. 187–206.