Last year I was sent this picture from a subscriber:
I never authorized the use of my image or granted the publisher permission to download and use two of my videos in the textbook. I certainly wasn’t compensated. This news came on the heels of this article surrounding DYB Academy using Economist articles without permission as well.
While initial discussions surrounding the actual Fair Use Clause in Korea indicated that I may have a case against Mirae-N (the publisher), a recent report by Arirang News shed a different light on the subject. In Korea, copyright fair use for K-12 public schools is carte blanche. Materials designed for Public schools are exempt from paying licensing fees to copyright holders. Because the text in question was produced for public middle schools, it means that it falls within the Korea blanket zone and can be used without any form of compensation.
I am an advocate for Fair Use, especially in education, but giving schools the ability to use entire works for free is going a bit too far. I much prefer the American model, were excerpts can be used for educational purposes.
What do you think? Which Fair Use model is better for education? Excerpts or complete access?
