Copywrite ethics poll

[LaxMom]

I said yes, because fair use laws are pretty well defined. I would not hesitate to make copies for my own use *within those parameters*. I would not copy an entire workbook.

 

This. I would copy/duplicate portions of a book within the confines of fair use. I do not, as a rule, copy workbooks, though I have in certain circumstances, when the child working in a workbook has somehow rendered a page unwritable - excessive erasure, for instance. Then, I've copied the page - either photocopied or typed out - for them to use. It gets affixed into the book.

 

If I feel my 10 yo needs more practice in a certain grammar lesson, I might copy or type out the sentences from her text book (which are not the same ones from the practice book) and have her do those.

 

I have also been known to photocopy and laminate knitting patterns, so I can carry them around in my knitting bag and write on them.

[AvasMom]

For my own family, yes absolutely. I could be wrong but isn't a no copy rule meaning no copying to redistribute, etc? I'm pretty sure that rule is for copying for someone outside of your own children.

[AvasMom]

Of course I would use it again. I don't think copyright law works that way. It's for personal use. For you and your family.

 

It'd be like saying that you should buy a new copy of a book every time you want one of your kids to read it. That would be ridiculous. It's okay to re-use copyrighted materials as long as you are not distributing or selling it outside of your personal use, IMHO.

 

:iagree:

[Murphy101]

I would without any hesitation use my purchased materials however I wanted to. I bought it. I own it. I'll use it however I want in my home.

 

That said, in regards to copying entire workbooks, I don't do it because it isn't cost effective. Most reasonably priced workbooks are under $20. It would cost very close to or more than that to copy and bind the entire thing. If I didn't want them to write in it, I'd have them use notebook paper. I don't do that very often because it can add considerable time to the school day.

[Murphy101]

Also, like Ester, we don't have many workbooks. MCP math is just about it. And our first cursive books. I can't afford to rebuy an entire workbook based curriculum every year and most workbooks are shoddily bound so they don't hold up as well as a proper bound non consumable resource.

 

Now my huge peeve is shoddily bound non consumables. :/

And spiral/comb bindings. I HATE those bindings.

[foxbridgeacademy]

To be honest, I cannot think of any curriculum I've used that had a specific 'no copy under any circumstances' statement, unless it was written somewhere in the workbook that I didn't see. For example, I do not read the page that has the publishing information. It has never occurred to me to do so. But yes I would copy pages for my children. When I buy a book, I consider that book to be purchased for my personal use whether I have 1 child or 10 children.

:iagree:

My thoughts exactly.

[Tammyla]

:iagree: I used a curriculum that actually stated the no reuse policy and while it stunk, I gave my word and stuck to it.

 

I would not and voted in the poll. This isn't a hard question for me.

[Zoo Keeper]

Mostly no. I have copied a page or two from a coloring book or workbook when I wanted a back-up copy for possible mistakes, or if I needed something shrunk or enlarged in order to paste it into our history notebooking pages.

 

I have on rare occasion called the publisher and asked if I could make copies out of a book. One example was our R&S Math book. I photocopied and enlarged the pages for my dysgraphic son to write on. R&S was fine with that but thanked me for asking.

 

If you are copying more than a few pages, it is appropriate to contact the publisher.

 

 

Daisy is right; a few copies of a few pages for educational use is within the fair use thing; to copy half the pages in the book just because "it's my book and I can do what I want to and I'm not going to buy another workbook for the next kid" is against copyright law.

 

SWB is very gracious in allowing the original purchaser of many of PHP materials to make copies for his own family. :)

[Zoo Keeper]

What is the difference in using a wipe off page protector so the workbook can be used for 2 or more dc and making copies for 2 or more dc. You are still preventing the publisher from making money on workbooks you would have purchased for your other dc. Are you justifying it because the rule states do not "copy" and you aren't technically copying?

 

Not trying to ruffle feathers...just trying to understand the reasoning.

 

It's the copying that is the issue; not the using with or without markers and page protectors, or the choosing to buy one workbook or ten. Read the statement on most copyright pages.

 

I'm like Ester; I don't like my kids or myself using most workbooks as workbooks. We use them as books to be kept in our family library and in nice condition--so we use page protectors or notebook paper to "think" on.

 

I do have some workbooks that we have bought individual copies for each child to write in, such as our handwriting and grammar books from Abeka.

[Amy Jo]

I voted special circumstances. Such as the book is out of print. I want writers to be paid for their work, and I choose with my dollars the companies/people I want to support. Overall cost for each child figures into that, but I prefer to avoid things I can't afford. There are always other options.

 

I don't buy curriculum that doesn't allow for copies.

 

:iagree:

 

What is the difference in using a wipe off page protector so the workbook can be used for 2 or more dc and making copies for 2 or more dc. You are still preventing the publisher from making money on workbooks you would have purchased for your other dc. Are you justifying it because the rule states do not "copy" and you aren't technically copying?

 

Not trying to ruffle feathers...just trying to understand the reasoning.

 

Sometimes I wonder that as well. I ended up having one workbook top bound (it was bound to tightly for a child to write near the crease) and will use page protectors. I'm sure eldest will need to re-do some pages, but I will have all my kids use it. Maybe the baby can actually write in the book. What does that count as? Obviously I'm not going to resell, but I am also not buying four copies of it.

 

Personally, I greatly dislike write-in books. It is clearly a way to make profit; when I was a student, we rarely had write-in books, but books which contained exercises which were done on your own paper and thus the same book could be used many times over by many different people. I see a HUGE shift in regular schools when it comes to that because publishers are making a lot of money out of those books, so what used to a collection of math exercises of 150 pages, now it is a write-in workbook of 450 pages that has to be purchased for every single student. When I was a kid, math exercises were copied from a book into your cheap little notebook and solved there. Ditto for almost every school subject. Nowadays, most materials seem to want you to be "active" with them in that you constantly cut off something, glue something, color, write in something - all with the purpose, as it seems to me, to make more money. I get stingy when I get an impression that somebody does that (and I also see the lowered quality of such materials, because a lot of book space is empty / wasted), so I tend not to use workbooks in the first place, or use them as regular books. You may consider it my personal little fit and a pet peeve, because it is not even that I do not have my kids write in those books for genuine reasons such as not having enough money to buy several copies, but because I simply refuse to play that game.

 

:iagree: I'm trying to get away from all workbooks actually. Or else buy pdfs that I can use for multiple kids. But I'm working towards having them use notebooks - more efficient, and I think it promotes stewardship of our resources.

[redsquirrel]

If I own an educational book and want to make a second copy for my own personal use, would I make a copy?

 

Yes. And that is not a copyright violation. If I own it I am allowed to make copies of it for my own personal use. If I buy an MP3 I am allowed to put it on all my MP3 players for my own personal use. If I own a cookbook, I am allowed to copy out pages while I cook to keep the book clean. If I own a knitting pattern, I am allowed to make copy to mark up and carry around in my knitting bag.

 

The writer can tell me no copying allowed but that is not what the law says. If no money is changing hands it is fine. I don't have to send money to the movie company if I have friends over to watch a DVD I own, do I? No. I own it and I can show it as long as no money is involved.

 

And if I buy a book used I do not have to send money to the publisher.

[Mrs Mungo]

If I own an educational book and want to make a second copy for my own personal use, would I make a copy?

 

Yes. And that is not a copyright violation.

 

That depends. You are not allowed to copy an entire book.

 

If I own it I am allowed to make copies of it for my own personal use. If I buy an MP3 I am allowed to put it on all my MP3 players for my own personal use.

 

Usually you are allowed to have MP3s only on a certain number of devices.

 

If I own a cookbook, I am allowed to copy out pages while I cook to keep the book clean.

 

Gasp! After my grandmothers died, we figured out which recipes they used by how messy the recipes were.

 

The writer can tell me no copying allowed but that is not what the law says. If no money is changing hands it is fine.

 

That is not necessarily true. The law says you can only copy portions of books.

[lcelmer]

Hmmm.... I would, but only in special circumstances.

 

IE:Today I copied 3 pages out of the Apologia JR. Notebooking to let my 3 year old have his own body diagram to color or cut up or whatever as we read the text aloud. He isn't actually doing the curriculum, I'm just letting him feel included. When he gets old enough to do the work I'll be buying him a notebooking journal. I also color copied the front of the apologia anatomy book & stuck it on a lapbook for him to keep his "work" in.

 

If Apologia offered a preschool go along, I might buy that... but they don't. He can't even count to 5 without skipping 4, can't read, can't write, just wants to feel like a big boy who is studying like brother & sister.

 

If I wanted to have a dedicated science 3 ring notebook, I would have no problem copying off a picture or two out of any science book to paste to the front of it.

[Mama Geek]

I voted yes, no problem with the understanding that it was for my kids.

[Cindy in FL.]

My dh, who is a lawyer, says that I can under "fair use". He says I can copy for my children but no one else.

 

Cindy

[Dinsfamily]

I would not and voted in the poll. This isn't a hard question for me.

 

:iagree:

[staceyobu]

I would love some clarification on this. Last year I made a few random copies of apologia jr notebook coloring pages for a four year old. I would not pay to buy him his own notebook because I think he is way too young for one. So, is this acceptable under the law or not? I'm considering buying him his own animal coloring book. Either way, I wouldn't purchase an extra notebook for him. Now, when he hits first grade, I'll buy him his own. So, can you legally copy those pages, or not?