Categories: Teaching Resources

Copyright: A licence to copy

&NewLine;<p><img class&equals;" alignright size-full wp-image-38" style&equals;"margin&colon; 5px&semi; float&colon; right&semi;" src&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;schoolnewsnz&period;fastrackdev&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2011&sol;10&sol;Copyright&lowbar;remote&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Copyright remote" width&equals;"200" height&equals;"150" &sol;>Teachers who want to use television programmes in the classroom can do so with ease&comma;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p> <&excl;--more--> <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>thanks to a special audiovisual copying licence established under the Copyright Act 1994&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Copyright owners can offer a licence to educational institutions that allows them to copy programmes&comma; provided they pay a fee for this use&comma; under section 48 of the Act&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The licence&comma; administered by Screenrights – an organisation representing broadcasters&comma; producers&comma; writers&comma; music copyright owners and other rights holders – allows for copying of broadcasts from television and radio and&comma; in some cases&comma; the internet&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The terms of the licence mean that schools enter an agreement with Screenrights&comma; pay an annual fee per student&comma; and can then copy whatever they like from television and radio&comma; whenever they like&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The programmes and shows copied by the school are monitored through a simple survey system&period; These results are then used to distribute licence fees back to copyright owners on a non-profit basis&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Screenrights licensing executive James Dickinson says the legislation ensures access to this wealth of material for teaching&comma; and provides payment to the people who make the programmes used in class&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;This is important because it helps filmmakers get the funds they need to continue making the type of programmes teachers want to use – including documentaries and educational programming&comma;&&num;8221&semi; he says&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The legislation has undergone various changes since it was first enacted to make sure that it stays up to date with technology&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;Originally we were just talking about video copying but now the use is so much wider&comma;&&num;8221&semi; Dickinson says&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Teachers can make digital or analogue copies&comma; and can store and play these copies on content management systems such as Clickview&period; More recently&comma; changes to the Copyright Act have allowed teachers to copy certain programmes and material from the internet&period; Teachers can download broadcast material that has been legally made available online&comma; giving even further options in how they find the programmes they want to use in class&period; Schools can also download copies from resource centres like E-cast&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;It&&num;8217&semi;s very flexible&comma;&&num;8221&semi; Dickinson says&period; &&num;8220&semi;Schools can administer how they copy – whether this is done through a central AV unit&comma; by teachers at home&comma; through a service provider or a combination of all three&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Under the legislation&comma; once a licence&comma; such as the Screenrights licence&comma; is offered to educational institutions&comma; schools that do not enter this agreement can be liable for copyright infringement if they continue to copy television or radio programmes&period; &&num;8220&semi;Our aim is to encourage all schools to take out a licence agreement&comma;&&num;8221&semi; Dickinson says&period; &&num;8220&semi;The New Zealand School Trustees Association contacts every school and sends them information&comma; along with a simple form&period; It&&num;8217&semi;s simply a matter of paying the invoice&period; If you choose not to do this&comma; you miss out on what is now a very important teaching resource&comma; or you run the risk of infringing the law&comma; with substantial penalties possible&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Licensed schools can also subscribe to a free weekly email guide that lets teachers know about upcoming broadcasts relevant to the curriculum&period; This means they can plan their recording schedules&comma; making sure they don&&num;8217&semi;t miss out on the perfect programme for their class&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>To find out more about the Screenrights licence&comma; visit <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;screenrights&period;org&sol;nz" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">www&period;screenrights&period;org&sol;nz<&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;

Explore our latest issue...
School News

School News is not affiliated with any government agency, body or political party. We are an independently owned, family-operated magazine.

Recent Posts

Union considers legal action over cuts to resource teachers

NZEI Te Riu Roa is considering legal action against the government for the disestablishment of…

2 weeks ago

NZQA: AI-marking now a reality

NZQA is implementing AI-marking for all Year 10 written assessments from this year onwards, following…

2 weeks ago

Financial literacy is about more than personal responsibility – wealth and inequality should be part of the new curriculum

Teaching personal financial responsibility isn't enough. Children should be taught broader economic context, argue New…

2 weeks ago

Achieving optimal sound quality in education spaces

When students can't hear the teacher, they can't learn properly. Sound quality matters in education…

2 weeks ago

Discover Ōtautahi Christchurch and its learning opportunites

The Garden City is rich with learning opportunities, no matter what subject or part of…

2 weeks ago

School leaders share stories for Unteach Racism project

Teaching Council of Aotearoa launch school leaders’ stories project with Unteach Racism to challenge institutional…

3 weeks ago