Michele Brannon-Hamilton's Blog

Piracy and Copyright – from the view of a writer

I found the discussion about copyright both interesting and alarming. Several questions come to mind:
• What should be free?
• Should it be different for educators?
• What about mashups?
• What about my rights as a writer?

I believe educators should be able to use online material for educational purposes but not for resale. However, the author should be acknowledged regardless of the usage. Also, writers and creators should be compensated for any creations that are reused on any other site.

Possible Rights for Sale
As a writer, I have the right to choose how I would like to sell my work. Most likely, I would sell First Time North American Rights which means I am selling my writing to an editor and promising the editor that it has not been viewed anywhere else in North America. Usually the editor can use my work for a defined amount of time. After the time period lapses, the rights to resell my work defer back to me so that I can sell Second Rights if I choose.

Usually, I sell my work to a buyer exclusively for a specific geographic location and for a specific amount of time. These rights allow me to keep my work for future resale. Only if I give away All Rights do I lose ownership.

The Internet and Potential Problems
With the Internet things become more complicated because geographic location is irrelevant. However, I can still sell First Time Rights to the first buyer with a specified time period attached. After this time period, the article is mine to resell.

The general online agreement is that my article comes off the website at an agreed upon date and I can resell my work as a reprint. In essence, I have guaranteed the next buyer exclusive rights for a new defined time period.

But what happens if the website doesn’t remove my article or what if someone ‘borrows’ part of my material? If so I can’t guarantee exclusivity which can hurt my credibility and cause me lost of payment for my creation. As a writer, these issues can violate my copyright and affect my right to make a living.

Sharing for Educational Purposes
Overall, I agree with remashing and reusing web material but only for personal use or educational purposes. While reading through the discussion threads in module 7, some of the posts concerned me, particularly those suggesting that everything should be free and available to all. It was suggested that publishers may just be in it for the money and that resources should be shared.

As a writer I cringe and I ask you these questions:
• Why should we pay teachers to teach?
• Isn’t it immoral to pay someone to educate our children when teaching is for a common good?
• Shouldn’t our children come before monetary gain?
• If resources should be free, are teachers not resources themselves?
• Or why not just pay teachers a penance for their initial contribution because paying them every year is all about monetary gain. If we paid you once why can’t you just teach the next year for free?

I simply took the questions that were posted in module 7 regarding copyright and turned them around to focus on teachers instead of writers, artists and other creators. Of course I don’t agree with this view because I value the work of teachers. Yes, you love to teach but in reality love won’t put food on the table.

Therefore, I ask that everyone think about the value of copyright and how it affects the creator. Go ahead and use our material but please acknowledge us in the process.

Choosing to Share My Work
As a writer and educator, I am careful about what I write and for whom I am writing. As a writer, I have the right to create and sell my work for profit or post it online for free. I do both.

As an educator, my written material belongs to the school where I am working. It’s in my contract that anything I create while working for the school belongs to the school. I believe this is the case at most schools. Therefore, I freely share anything I create at work with other educators.

The Importance of Copyright
Overall, the important aspect of copyright is the element of choice. Copyright protects my right to sell my work if I choose to do so. When people ‘borrow’ for personal or educational purposes, I’m thrilled and only ask to be acknowledged; however, when people ‘borrow’ for resale they have devalued my work and possibly cost me the chance to resell. So please copy in good conscience and give credit where it is due.