Within the academic arena librarians, professors, and researchers alike, are often unaware of the rights they have to use or reproduce many copyrighted sources. Throughout time, technological advances, starting with the photocopier, have been blamed for the confusion over fair use and other legal copyright practices within the academic setting. This is because Copyright Law, though seemingly technologically neutral, does not account for advances in technology that are made between modifications of the law, which cannot change as often as people would like. Another culprit seems to be publications that, in an attempt to elucidate fair use in an understandable language, often convey the rights of academic persons to educational resources by listing what they cannot do, instead of what they can. This kind of language and approach has led many to shy away from the use of certain resources that could very well influence the effectiveness of their work, for fear that they will be sued. With the vastly increasing number of ways a computer and other technologies can be used, now, more than ever, it is crucial that students and educators become aware of their rights to the intellectual property that is so readily available to them. Though some laws have been set in place to protect the rights of publishers, printers, and authors in this respect, many of these issues must still be understood through the application of fair use principles. For this reason, my essay focuses on issues of fair use in the academic setting and the ways academic experiences can be negatively affected my common misinterpretations of it. I intend to show how such confusion over issues of fair use is disruptive and detrimental to scholarly pursuits, and argue for the incorporation of fair use education for all members of an academic setting.

This document was created in accordance with the "Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education" released on November 11th 2008.  The "Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education" was developed for the purposes of advancing a greater knowledge of the doctrine of fair use for educators (including librarians) and students to help ensure that they get the most out of what resources are available to enhance their curriculums and the overall educational experience.  With this goal in mind, "Teaching about Copyright and Fair Use" instructs educators on how to work issues of fair use and copyright law into current curriculums to communicate to students the importance of understanding fair use.

The guide includes lesson plans geared toward high school level students, undergraduates, and graduate students.  I find it quite relevant to my own thesis, because it prioritizes the copyright issues that are most important for the public to understand.  This document takes a cultural approach to appealing to educators, arguing that every student has a right to "gather, share, create and use the intellectual property that is constantly being generated in our culture."  I plan to take a similar approach in my own essay, and I feel that understanding the lesson plans in this document and using them as a point of reference will ultimately strengthen the argument I make for the advancement of an awareness surrounding copyright issues that directly affect the quality of education one gives or is given.