Case+59+-+Mrs.+As+ESL+Class+A+Power+Point+Presentation+about+Immigration

Mrs. A. is an ESL teacher who teaches ESL to new comers to America. The purpose of her lesson is to show that the majority of immigrants who come to America struggle a lot, regardless of ethnicity, time frame, religion, etc. She wants to include photographs and music in her power point presentation. She will use pictures from the Ellis Island Immigration Museum web site showing how a wave of immigrants from Europe came to America, then, she will use pictures from a magazine showing how a new wave of immigrants is coming today. Also, she wants to add ethnic music that represents the immigrants’ origins like a background to the slides. She will play a small portion of songs, recorded from a CD. Ms. A. knows that music and pictures are copyrighted, but also she knows that these materials can be used for educational purpose, meeting the professional standards for the curriculum development. Commentary Using the four factors of fair use analysis Ms. A. will not get in trouble using the multimedia tools. First factor: The purpose of copying the pictures and music are for educational use. According to Section 110 (1) of Title 17 (U.S. Copyright Law), she is allowed to use them. Therefore, she is using these tools to create a new work and enhance her instructional purpose. This new and transformative information will help the students to develop new insights and understanding of the purpose of the lesson. Second Factor: The nature of her work is factual, which weighs in favor of fair use. She is getting the information from published sources. Third Factor: Ms. A. will take a few photographs from the magazine, from the museum web site, and small portions of the songs for her power point presentation. She will use the minimal amount needed. Fourth Factor: The power point presentation will not be place on the school web site; it will not be distributed to the students or other teachers for any reason, so there is not economic harm to the owners of the copyright as a result of its use. In addition, the Copyright Act permits the display of protected works without the copyright holder’s permission in classrooms, where both students and teachers are physically present “Face to Face Interaction”.