Intellectual Property and Copyright

I think many teachers are little aware of copyright in school. Did you know that you can't put on a play to parents or have a concert for them without permission? But you can use a play or a concert for educational purpose in the classroom without permission (Erdis & Bjerke, 2009). I have heard teachers say they make their own teaching material because they are not satisfied with the textbook. Where do they collect the material from? Their own head? I think they copy from other textbooks and not thinking about the restrictions given in Copyright act. The Norwegian educational system have an agreement with Kopinor including payment to the originator. And don't forget about Internet! Did you know copying from Internet is protected by the same laws as textbooks?

What kind of information can you share if you are a teacher? The legal system regarding copyright in Norway is "Åndsverksloven" (Copyright act). There are different kinds of Internet resource databases regarding copyright in Norway: 1) DelRett which have guidelines for sharing text, pictures, sound and film and 2) Clara. DelRett give an overview of digital resources you have free access to. Many of these resources are regulated by Creative Commons licences. By using this kind of licence you allow others to use your work as long as they give you credit for it, but you can restrict to what extent they can modify it.

Today I thought it would be a good idea to use the Moodle logo in the Moodlehjelp-blog so I sent Moodle.org this e-mail: "I'm a librarian at Nesna University college. I help students and staff using Moodle every day. I'm planning to make a blog in Norwegian telling students and staff at Nesna University college how to use Moodle; a kind of Frequently asked questions blog. It would be great if I could use your logo in this blog - http://moodlehjelphine.blogspot.com/." Hopefully I get a positive answer.

I did get a positive answer: "Trude, Thanks for getting in contact. No problem using the moodle name and/or logo for the purpose you describe. Good luck with your project!"

Reference list
 
Erdis, M. & A-K. Bjerke (2009). Juss for pedagoger. Bergen : Fagbokforlaget.