Dive Brief:
- A multi-country research project asked students about their behaviors and attitudes toward piracy, finding just one in five acquired all of their class materials legally.
- Campus Technology reports some of these students downloaded pirated material without knowing it was illegal, while others didn’t worry about the legality in the face of such high textbook costs.
- A study around the findings advocates more widespread use of open educational resources, which give students access to free learning materials that can be legally obtained.
Dive Insight:
Beyond reading materials, students do not do so well when it comes to photo or video copyright compliance. For that matter, neither do faculty. As classrooms incorporate more digital media, many students and faculty turn to Google to find materials, ignoring copyright law altogether. Raul Burriel, an information technology consultant at Oregon State University, it is a question of education. But many users would prefer to ask for forgiveness after the fact, rather than seek out permission ahead of time.
VideoBlocks provides subscription-based access to repositories of stock video and audio footage. California Newsreel offers similar subscription-based access, but to a small collection of documentaries. Many schools have accounts to help keep their populations honest. Those that don’t should certainly consider it.