Copyright School

It's surprising that it has taken this long, but Google has gone and created Copyright School, a short interactive course on how users can make appropriate use of media when posting content to YouTube. While resources have existed for some time to teach clients how to ensure their posting of material doesn't violate copyright, I discovered the news through the form of a short animated video that was embedded at Mashable.



It's a great beginning, but lessons on fair use, copyright, and Creative Commons, are long overdue. In preparing students to flourish in an increasingly media-centric world, there is a need for classroom teachers and students from primary school through university, to understand how to create content in ways that respect the wishes of other content creators.

WIth a link to copyright information now appearing at the bottom of every YouTube page, maybe Google will expand this copyright course to include:

* How to find and use appropriately licensed music for synchronized works
* How to credit photographers when using their CC licensed works
* How to make the most of archival film footage found in the public domain
* How to use Creative Commons to share your own work with the world

Now that YouTube is now one of the world's most popular search engines, I'm hopeful those who visit the site to consume media, will find themselves following links to learn about the ethical creation of mulitmedia.