(Amazing the vocabulary you can develop from watching X-Files (I know that was 10 years ago...), or even reading Garfield - and yes I do mean the cat, not the works of the past president! I claim no personal credit - indeed, is this a more-than fitting introduction to the subject in question?)
Copyright is difficult to wrap your head around, even beyond simply, "Is it spelt '...right' or '...write', and is it one word or two?" These articles were enlightening, and I felt gave me something of a clearer picture - but then I took the quiz :(
I got that it's not about whether you make money from what you do with the material or not, it's about the originator maintaining ownership/control of their creation; that copyright is apparently NOT all about keeping the product in the creator's clammy little hands but is in fact attempting to balance the invention of 'something new' and the creator's right to benefit from that something, with the right, and benefit to the public at large of having access to that something; that when working in the field of education a lot more latitude for 'right to use' is given, but within certain bounds - the work produced that includes (or even depends upon) the 'borrowed' information or product must be used within a setting devoted to education & instruction, and not be able or permitted to go any further than that restricted circle (ie look out for whether posting to LAN, WAN, or password/unpassword-ed website).
And yet there is so much fiddly detail as well - as one article amusingly and directly put it: "If it were not this confusing, how would the lawyers make all their money?"! It interested me that having read, dredged at times, waded through the other papers (not all heavy, but certainly in places) - the interactive screen with the children sitting at their desks with questions seemed to summarize amazingly well all that I had just read, and it all seemed to make sense. Of course, without having read all that first I'd have understood far less of what was in those vignette answers.
As for the quiz: I have no clue how I was to know, for example, "Use of that TV recording would be deemed 'fair use' because it was within ten days of broadcast" ?!
I think that this world has become easily offended with their copyright laws. I know that if I didn't know better I would probably could easily break many copyright laws. Their are many to know that it gets to be overwhelming and confusing. I think it is up to educators to teach young children about the different kinds of copyright laws.
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