The advance of technology has made sharing of information and images very easy. But as both a student and a lecturer –  when is it right to use other peoples material. As a matter of what I consider good practice, I always reference my material – however is this enough? Can I use the image or cartoon that I found on the internet in my teaching powerpoints or within my student assignments?

In an effort to answer this I have read many articles, blogs and books. However the clearest explanation that I found comes compliments of Brad Templeton – 10 Myths about Copyright

http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html

As an educator don’t get too frightened. You may have heard of the term “fair use” – this is, in my opinion a teachers “get out of jail card” (homage to “Monopoly” board game). The following link outlines some frequently asked questions on this area – if you are in education pay particular attention to question 4

http://w2.eff.org/IP/eff_fair_use_faq.php

I would appreciate readers thoughts on this and all links to other interesting articles on this topic