Posted by Rick Denney on June 24, 2002 at 14:32:52:
In Reply to: Copywright vs. Punishment posted by Matt G on June 24, 2002 at 13:47:22:
Copyright law existed before photocopy machines. Its point is to protect authors from losing revenue by having their work plagiarized. Photocopy machines make it more convenient, but writing the part down by hand is legal the same.
The approach you mention is akin to writing 100 times on the board, "I will not lose my band parts." If you do that AND make the kid pay for the replacement part, you probably get the same job done, though I would suggest an essay instead for sufficient extra credit to erase the F for that day in class when he showed up without the part.
On the whole subject of school bands making copies, I suspect that districts who took all this seriously could maintain a district-wide library from which schools could borrow (the originals, of course). The librarian's job would be to maintain the parts and keep sufficient copies available to meet the demand. I wonder how many schools in the same district have the same music and only rarely play it during the same school year? That duplication is a waste of the dollars that are so hard for band directors to find. Number the parts, assign them to students by name, and charge them if they are not returned (just like they used to do--and hopefully still do--for school-provided textbooks).
The point is that it is not that hard to work within the law, if you are committed to upholding it. It takes a bit of creativity, that's all. The uncreative justifications for ignoring the law sound just like the excuses that those same teachers reject from their teenage students for other misdemeanors.
Rick "who is not pure on this subject but who does feel guilty about his lapses" Denney