4.1.1 Digital Rights and Responsibilities

Every Digital Learning Community (DLC) must ensure that citizens within the community have access to an environment where Acceptable Use Policies protect members as well as the community itself and where individuals uphold laws. An effective way to establish and maintain a DLC where citizens observe, support, and ultimately benefit from Digital Rights and Responsibilities would imply explicitly addressing and discussing that with digital rights come responsibilities. 

From my experience, in an online learning environment, copyright laws tends to become an issue that requires particular attention. Common Sense Media offers a fantastic Digital Literacy and Citizenship Classroom Curriculum with many great ready-to-use lesson plans on several digital citizenship topics including copyright. I plan to use one of the lessons in which students learn to follow five simple tips to ensure that they respect copyright laws when they want to use someone else's creative work:

1. Check who owns it.
   
   
2. Get permission to use it, if necessary.
   
   
3. Give credit to the creator.
   
   
4. Buy it, if necessary.
   
   
5. Use it responsibly.