Copyrightlaws.com serves as a training organization for copyright law through certificate programs. While their certificate programs require payment, the General Copyright Resources section includes several free articles, blog posts, and other resources addressing copyright law as a whole and specific types of content or scenarios.
Type of Material:
Reference material
Recommended Uses:
In class discussion or homework
Technical Requirements:
Browser
Identify Major Learning Goals:
Provides independent, non-biased formalized training and free resources to help students around the world understand copyright law.
Empowers students taking a certification program with the confidence and the ability to analyze their own copyright situations without needing a lawyer.
Help provide practice opportunities with actual copyright scenarios so librarians or other professionals know how to handle a copyright situation when it arises.
Target Student Population:
Graduate School, Professional
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:
Some understanding of copyright issues will likely enhance the learning experience.
Content Quality
Rating:
Strengths:
The General Copyright resources section offers coverage of copyright issues including licensing electronic resources, fair use, best practices for using Google Images, choosing among Creative Commons licenses, and legal use of images in presentations.
Concerns:
Some of the articles seem overly simplified, probably for quick readability. However, it would be nice to have some longer more in-depth content, likely arranged as a tutorial. Obviously the organization offers certificaton courses, and is the avenue they choose to offer more detailed training. However, that training is expensive.
Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool
Rating:
Strengths:
There are numerous articles or topics an educator can assign as a starting point for discussions or as supplements requiring further research. Some articles have a short quiz at the end to assess understanding.
The inclusion of features such as information summaries, FAQs, scenarios, and quizzes make the information accessible. For those who want very in-depth coverage of issues and concepts related to copyright, subscription-based courses are available.
Concerns:
Learning goals are not stated for each article and the content is not generally designed to be part of a lesson. Instructors will have to create their own assignments around the content.
Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty
Rating:
Strengths:
Articles are written for ease of reading and therefore keep the amount of text short. Text is broken into sections, allowing one to quickly identify relevant areas of content. Also, additional links within the content provide more extensive or supplementary information.
Quizzes included at the end of some articles offer an interactive element to help the reader stay engaged and check their comprehension.
Concerns:
Because the organization offers certification courses, the website is designed to highlight those courses and tutorials, and it is easy to overlook the General Copyright Resources link. The General Copyright Resources link opens a dropdown menu to access free materials covering numerous aspects of copyright. The site has some accessibility issues, mainly related to redundant links and small text.
Creative Commons:
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