Re: TECH: Copyright Violations???

[Russell Smith <russell@RUSTYSMITH.COM>]

>    One of our third grade teachers came in today to return books and
casually asked me whether she could "borrow" a bunch of CD's (software
programs) and take them to the computer lab to burn them

   Of course it's a copyright violation to make more copies for
additional use, one archival copy is permitted with only one copy
allowed to be used at the same time. If you want to do the right thing
then inform the principal that if the teachers want their own CDs then
the school should pay for the licenses. The principal is the person
responsible for making sure copyright laws are followed. You have
fulfilled your duties by informing the principal and if the
administrators want to do the right thing they will budget for software
licenses.

  Software companies rarely bring legal claims against schools, but if a
violation is reported to them they will pursue it. Los Angeles is a
district that found that out the hard way:


http://www.lausd.k12.ca.us/lausd/board/secretary/html/agendas/csm/csm11-
03-98.html

  In 1998 Los Angeles Unified School District paid $300,000 to settle a
software piracy claim against one of their magnet schools.


All the best,


Russell Smith
Edtech Consultant, Journalist
Region 14 Education Service Center
Abilene, Texas  915-675-8659
http://www.rustysmith.com

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