Here's a copy of the draft proposal:
Use of Creation of Copyrighted Materials (Prince George's County Public Schools) http://www.boarddocs.com/MABE/pgcps/Board.nsf/files/943N845D...
DC-area schools consider copyright policy that takes ownership of students’ work
51–60 of 90 posts
Re: DC-area schools consider copyright policy that takes ownership of students’ work
#52Earlier quoted context omitted.
PG County is Maryland, not DC. It's the county that wraps around the eastern side of the District, and includes the University of Maryland. The rules of the District don't apply to what they're trying to do. I think the author mentioned them (and those of Montgomery County, PG's far wealthier and higher performing neighbor) to show that the idea wouldn't be possible in those school districts. Notably, PG County has a…
Notably, PG County has [..] a relatively low-income population Really? According to wiki, the median household income is over $71,000 and 38% of households earned over $100,000. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Georges_County,_Maryland... edit: okay, I suppose PG county is lower income than Montgomery, Arlington, Fairfax, and Loudoun counties, but the population is certainly not "low income" even for a high-cost-o…
Compare that to other DC-area counties, though. Per the Washington Post [1], Fairfax, Loudoun, and Arlington all have median household incomes over $100,000. Montgomery sits at almost $93,000. So in comparison, $71,000 per year is low.
[1]: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/local/highest-i...
Re: DC-area schools consider copyright policy that takes ownership of students’ work
#53Surely this can't be legal under existing copyright law. From the article, "The District holds common law copyright, at a minimum, to all relevant intellectual property its city and school employees create, a spokeswoman said." I take it that the school district's lawyer was not consulted before that statement was made, or else the lawyer was a doofus about copyright law. There isn't any "common law copyright," in th…
> If a school tells you that you can't do what's right by your child because "it's the law," ask for the citation of the law. If it's really a law, there is a citation, and the law can be looked up. In the United States, under its Anglo-American system of law, the default assumption is individual liberty (and parents rather than schools acting in the interests of minor children), so make sure to check the specific la…
What are they going to tell the police? "These parents won't let us copyright their children's work, please arrest them."?
Re: DC-area schools consider copyright policy that takes ownership of students’ work
#54When my son was an undergraduate at UC Berkeley he used to put a copyright notice on all his homework because the University has a similar policy. The policy was legal because students has to agree in order to gain admission. The Prince Georges policy has no legal standing because first graders cant enter into contracts. Apparently nobody contacted a minimally competent lawyer.
Not a Cal student, but Cal & the UC have a number of pages about copyright, including: http://ipira.berkeley.edu/uc-copyright-policy IV C. Student Work A student work is a work produced by a registered student without the use of University funds (other than Student Financial Aid), that is produced outside any University employment, and is not a sponsored, contracted facilities, or commissioned work. Ownership of copy…
I can accept that his reasoning was flawed.
Re: DC-area schools consider copyright policy that takes ownership of students’ work
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
PG County is Maryland, not DC. It's the county that wraps around the eastern side of the District, and includes the University of Maryland. The rules of the District don't apply to what they're trying to do. I think the author mentioned them (and those of Montgomery County, PG's far wealthier and higher performing neighbor) to show that the idea wouldn't be possible in those school districts. Notably, PG County has a…
Notably, PG County has [..] a relatively low-income population Really? According to wiki, the median household income is over $71,000 and 38% of households earned over $100,000. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Georges_County,_Maryland... edit: okay, I suppose PG county is lower income than Montgomery, Arlington, Fairfax, and Loudoun counties, but the population is certainly not "low income" even for a high-cost-o…
Correct. PG County is only "low income" relative to its neighbors.
If memory serves, it's the wealthiest majority minority county in the nation.
Re: DC-area schools consider copyright policy that takes ownership of students’ work
#56Earlier quoted context omitted.
PG County is Maryland, not DC. It's the county that wraps around the eastern side of the District, and includes the University of Maryland. The rules of the District don't apply to what they're trying to do. I think the author mentioned them (and those of Montgomery County, PG's far wealthier and higher performing neighbor) to show that the idea wouldn't be possible in those school districts. Notably, PG County has a…
Notably, PG County has [..] a relatively low-income population Really? According to wiki, the median household income is over $71,000 and 38% of households earned over $100,000. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Georges_County,_Maryland... edit: okay, I suppose PG county is lower income than Montgomery, Arlington, Fairfax, and Loudoun counties, but the population is certainly not "low income" even for a high-cost-o…
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Re: DC-area schools consider copyright policy that takes ownership of students’ work
#57Wow, as a student in HS I literally wouldn't have been able to turn in certain homework due to an agreement I had signed as a contractor(1). There's an excuse for you. "No Ma'am, I don't have today's homework, I'm under nda." (1) It was a ridiculous contract, probably completely invalid because I was 17 at the time, but still... Homeschooling for business reasons?!
From what I read, it looks like the policy would apply to work produced 'for the school' or use by the school or part of the school, or with school equipment. So I suppose if you claimed all work you turned in had been produced by you prior to the assignment, for your own, or other, purposes, you (or the copyright owner) would retain your rights.
Re: DC-area schools consider copyright policy that takes ownership of students’ work
#58Earlier quoted context omitted.
Notably, PG County has [..] a relatively low-income population Really? According to wiki, the median household income is over $71,000 and 38% of households earned over $100,000. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Georges_County,_Maryland... edit: okay, I suppose PG county is lower income than Montgomery, Arlington, Fairfax, and Loudoun counties, but the population is certainly not "low income" even for a high-cost-o…
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I used to live in Greenbelt, in the heart of PG County, and my 2-bedroom-and-den semi-crappy apartment cost $1750 nearly 7 years ago. And Greenbelt is a DUMP. An expensive, expensive dump.
Since the apartments were all full — and not 6 people to a unit, either… -- there's only one conclusion… PG County is a lot wealthier than you think. It's not all in Bowie and "the north."
Re: DC-area schools consider copyright policy that takes ownership of students’ work
#59Why would you want to own the IP for a bunch of crappy school projects?
Some universities have plagiarism detection systems and to tell if you're copying from your buddy who took the course last year they store all submitted work. Often these systems are outsourced to companies like 'turnitin' [1] which can also compare work between universities. Work is stored forever, and if anyone submits something similar to your work, professors get to see both side by side for comparison. In order…
There's a big difference between granting the school a non-exclusive copyright licence (including one that allows them to sublicense to anti-plagiarism companies), and assigning them your copyright. I'd be happy to do the first, but not the second.
Re: DC-area schools consider copyright policy that takes ownership of students’ work
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
Id agree so long as students have a choice. Otherwise, it's just the plantation owner talking about how good the slaves have it because he feeds them so well.
How much profit is being derived from the work of children though? It seems a stretch to make a comparison with plantations/slaves. Any profit that is generated from children in school is a side-effect, not a primary goal. Though I can see this setting up a situation of perverse incentives.
I doubt this is about profit. It's more likely that they wanted the copyright so they can use services that detect plagiarism without having to get consent from the students every time.
Now they're saying it's all a big mistake. Not sure I believe it.