Case study - Session 3

For session 3 we had to explore the issues surrounding copyright. As part of this session we had to explore a fictional online course on Hamlet created by an English teacher and available through the LMS at the school that she teachers at. The teacher is planning to use a number of resources including a portrait of William Shakespeare, an image of Hamlet, an edited text of the original play and a short video on Hamlet produced by the BBC.

The idea of the exercise was to highlight some of the complications of copyright law.

The text of Hamlet edited by Charles Kean is out of copyright and in the public domain. So Theresa can include The text of Hamlet in her course without consent or permission from the copyright holder.

The image of Hamlet by William Morris Hunt is held by the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. According to their 'Terms of use' (FAIR USE PERMITTED: The Materials are made available for limited non-commercial, educational, and personal use only, or for fair use as defined in the United States copyright laws. Users may download these files for personal use, subject to any additional terms or restrictions applicable to the individual Material. Users must properly cite to the source of the Materials and the citations should include a link to www.mfa.org. By downloading, printing, or using Material from the Website, whether accessed directly or indirectly, users agree that such uses will comply with fair use, and will not violate MFA’s or any other party's proprietary rights), Theresa can include an image of the portrait of Hamlet in her course as it is for educational purpose.

The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust own the copyright of the digital copy of the Cobbe portrait. According to 'Terms and condition' (Copyright: The copyright in all content comprising or contained within this website remains with The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust and other copyright owners as specified. Users may access content on this site solely for their own personal or educational non-commercial use.), Theresa can include a digital copy of the Cobbe portrait in her course as it is for educational purpose.

A copy of the BBC video providing an overview of the major themes of the play is protected by copyright which is owned by the BBC. According to the 'terms of use' (If you comply with these Terms of Use and any applicable Additional Terms and with all relevant laws (for instance, copyright law), you may use BBC Online Services to access, view and/or listen to BBC Content for your personal and non-business use), Theresa can include a copy of the BBC video in her course as it is for non-business purpose (educational purpose).

The slide show was based on Theresa's own original research work drawing extensively on her article published in the Australian Humanities Review, an open access journal. So most probably the Theresa will have to seek permission from the Australian National University before including a copy of the slide show in the LMS.

The case study was really interesting. It shows clearly that before creating learning materials, one need to seek permissions where necessary.