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Sorry,

This got caught in the system ...  It's that "amfellows" address in the
body, again.

Betty


From: "Debbie Abilock" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: RE: Publication of lesson plans
Date: Sat, 17 May 2003 08:51:51 -0700


Elizabeth brings up the value of our common-wealth--for example, work
funded by the US government, as well as other valuable cultural and
intellectual resources in the public domain.  We all benefit from these,
create new and interesting materials using them, etc.  I want to thank
the Library of Congress and American Memory staff for supporting the
work of education and educators by adding to America's "memory."

As part of our themed issue on the common-wealth, David Bollier has
written an article for the next issue of Knowledge Quest about the
intellectual commons - I believe it will change the way you teach
students about citing sources and intellectual property.

Debbie Abilock, Editor
Knowledge Quest
http://www.ala.org/aasl/kqweb/index.html
[log in to unmask]

"I hated every minute of training, but I said, 'Don't quit.  Suffer now
and live the rest of your life like a champion.'"
                                              -- Muhammed Ali

Knowledge Quest is devoted to offering substantive information to assist
building-level library media specialists, supervisors, library
educators, and other decision makers concerned with the development of
school library media programs and services.  Articles address the
integration of theory and practice in school librarianship and new
developments in education, learning theory, and relevant disciplines.

-----Original Message-----
From: Elizabeth Brown
Sent: Friday, May 16, 2003 1:56 PM
Subject: Re: Publication of lesson plans

-------

Learning Page Lessons ARE in the Public Domain.  Anyone may
republish them for money without so much as a credit line.  Personally,
I have less of a problem with the money-making part than with the
lack of a credit to you for creating them or to the Library of
Congress, for making them available, funding them, whatever.

Not giving credit to others for their intellectual work is just
unethical.  If these publishers were your students you'd have to fail
them for this behavior.

There is a rule in the copyright law about "added value" ... for
example, Matthew Lesko claims copyright on his books.  He's they guy that
gathers government information in print and on the web, repackages it,
edits it, and re-publishes it, and makes a decent living for himself in
the process.  See <http://www.matthewlesko.com/>.  It's pretty easy to
find his stuff and it is pretty straightforward reading, which may not
always be said for the originals.

This is one for the lawyers.  I would hate to be the one to decide where
"added value" starts.

Perhaps your requestor would agree to a disclaimer indicating that THIS
lesson is in the public domain and is also available at http://....

In theory, the government doesn't mind re-distribution of its materials,
because the good work gets out there without costing additional tax
money and it encourages private enterprise.

Still they oughta give credit.

Anyway, read your contracts, contact your lawyers, etc.  Ask for proper
citation.

Betty

P.S.
There's a glitch with the current version of the listserv software that
may cause reply messages to the list to bounce back to you instead of
getting posted.  One way to keep this from happening is to remove the
first few lines in the "information from header" section in the
"original message" part of your reply.  The one particularly offending
line is the one that includes the list's address.



> Poster:       Patricia Solfest <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject:      Publication of lesson plans
>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------
>
> Dear Fellows,
> I recently received the following request from a  person in charge of
a
> website which creates lessons for home schools:
>
> The Adventure of the  American Mind Home School Partner creates online
> lessons for students in grades  3-12. I really like the breadth of
your
> unit and would like to use it as the  skelaton of an asynchronous
online
> unit. This will be similar to our NC Unit  at:
>
http://www.aamhomeschool.org/ncunit/9-12/Lessons/LessonsOverview/LessonI
PartIOv
> erview.htm .     Would this be okay with  you?
>
> I went to the site and noticed that it claimed copyright on the
materials
> published there. Has anyone else received such requests? What
publication
> rights does the Library of Congress,  or we as lesson creators, retain
for
> these lessons? As a govenrment agency, are all of these materials
"public
> domain"? I have seen publications that are nearly identical to
American
> Memory lessons for sale at conferences and wondered about this. Can
anyone
> enlighten me? Thanks.
> Patricia Solfest
>