Fair Use and Intellectual Property Hazards

     According to Kate A. Thompson, fair use is an exemption that was made in copyright law to allow limited portions of an original work to be used for educational purposes.  Furthermore, it is often used as part of a defense claim to rebut accusations of copyright infringement.  She breaks down the legal analysis of fair use into four factors: 1) whether the work is used for educational or commercial purposes, 2) the nature of the work (fact-based or creative), 3) "the amount of work used in relation to the work as a whole," and 4) the effect of the use on the market "or potential income for the work" (p. 11-12). 
      Other copyright commentators, such as Doug Johnson and Carol Simpson, point out that the concept of fair use often leads educators to take careless liberties in the distribution of protected works, feigning ignorance that if they are providing access to a work for the benefit of students, that they are automatically exempt from the tenets of intellectual property law.  Furthermore, the fact that teachers are not necessarily making money from distributing or presenting protected works, does not necessarily protect them either (p. 15).
     Some important items that teachers might want to consider when presenting or distributing a work, or in allowing students to do so, are the following:
     1) Using the work for educational purposes, and avoiding recreational or entertainment use of media. For example, playing a DVD or VHS for a class as a recreational reward for good behavior, should be avoided, or at the very least, done so carefully (i.e. acquiring proper licenses).
     2) Limiting the amount of work that is distributed for free in a classroom.  For example, photocopying an article from a magazine to share with the class would be acceptable, but photocopying the entire magazine, or large segments of it, would not (in this case, due to its impact on the market place).
     3) Limiting the audience viewing student or teacher-produced materials to the classroom or the school (not the general public, and not many places on the internet).  In the case that a student borrowed images, text, or other media to complete a class report, the teacher and student should be aware of potential legal hazards posed by sharing the report beyond the classroom.