The first time I heard the term “digital footprint” was in high school. Everyone was getting cellphones, webcams, and digital cameras. We were moving from MySpace to Facebook and MSN Messenger to Skype. I remember a few teachers warning us to be careful about what we post online because of “predators”. As we got older (and more familiar with social media) the fear of the predator subsided and the fear of the potential employer took over. It was becoming common practice for employers to look you up online before hiring you. In high school this was not a big concern but in university it certainly was. I had a lot of friends change their screenname so they would not come up in a Google search. I personally, do not use my last name on my social media accounts (with the exception of LinkedIn). I think this is very common practice now but is still an important message to relay to students.
Intellectual Property and Privacy are not new concepts to me. I actually feel like I have a slight advantage in these areas simply because I work at a law firm with a large Intellectual Property practice and Privacy speciality group. Needless to say we have to ensure we are upholding IP and privacy regulations in order to represent our clients. The law is a hard thing to “copy”, after all it is absolute and written by a governing body. You cannot really claim that the regulations are your own and the information is publically accessible. It is common place to reference case law or statues in our programs. In our case, sharing knowledge is more so sharing precedent documents or best practices – all of which are owned by the Firm so no firm member is violating copyright by using them. Where you can get in trouble is trying to use these resources once you have left the firm.
I do not think every culture has the same views on intellectual property – I don’t even think the same cultures have the same views on intellectual property. For example many people would see no issue with playing music (that you purchased) at an event or conference. However, legally you are supposed to obtain a SOCAN license if you are playing music for business purposes. Buying the music only allows you to play it for private use. It would be very easy for someone unfamiliar with copyright law to violate this regulation regardless of their cultural background. Where does the onus fall to educate people on copyright? I’m not sure I have the answer. I would think it would be industry specific, so perhaps in college, university, or workplace onboarding.
Hi Colleen;
It is a great idea to make copyright education part of standard onboarding practice! At the University of Manitoba, there is a copyright information session that is held annually, but only for people who are interested in the topic. These days when so much is posted publically, any employee who can post to the company’s website should have training on the standards of practice within that organization. Here at the UofMB, it often works in reverse. You are told to publish something and then after-the-fact, you are told by someone in External Relations that it doesn’t live up to their standards. However, they almost never have the time to review your work before it gets posted/published. A little education in the first instance would save a lot of grief later.
Great suggestion!
Tanya
Hi Tanya,
I would think if someone is in a position to post on a company website they would need some sort of information session! That would be a prime opportunity to talk about organizational standards and copyright. Granted so many things fall in the grey zone it would be hard to keep it all straight!
Colleen
Hi Colleen,
You raise an important point about the concern over where your digital footprint will impact your life. From predator danger to workplace impact are significant potential effects. What goes on the internet stays on the internet, not matter how quickly you attempt to remove it. Even concerns such as identity theft are more relevant than ever. Based on developmental readiness, it is difficult for young people to conceptualize these problems occurring down the road. How can we prepare our students to understand these long term ramifications? What will be the new ‘dangers’ as younger and younger students have ubiquitous access to online resources? Is creating an online ‘code’ name or alias enough to protect your privacy online?
Hi Kim,
I think you raise some really important questions. In high school there was an elective called media studies and it covered things like digital footprints. I think a course like that should be a mandatory. However, as you pointed out, times have changed and high school would likely be too late for a media studies course. Generations today would probably need it in elementary school! (I’m not a teacher so I don’t know if that already exists or not).
Hi Colleen,
I wasn’t aware about the regulations regarding playing music at the events or conferences. Why do you think we need a license to do that? Who owns the music when it is publicly played? Does that mean that all clubs, for example, have licenses with all singers/bands?
Natasha
Hi C, K, T, & N,
regarding the music . . .
In my post on copyright, the Zumba teacher I spoke with pays to publicly use the music she plays during her classes.
K
Hi Natasha,
I cannot say for sure but I think there are slightly different regulations for TV/Radio. I know event venues all have to get SOCAN licenses. They typically include the cost of the license in their rental fee. I took a project/event management course and there was a unit on licenses and permits. Until then, I had never heard of SOCAN.
Here is the website: https://www.socan.ca/licensees/faq-licensing