Teacher Tube and Copyright

Teacher tube has some excellent videos on a variety of subjects.  While I've had success in using Teacher Tube in the past, there are a few things to look out for.  I've chosen two videos that use multimedia in order to scrutinize their use of copyright law.  The first is found at: 

http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=15395&title=50_States_and_Capitals__cartoon_song_

It contains a notice at the beginning stating that this is a review of the states and their capitals preparatory to a class quiz.  At the end, there are a few lines wishing the students good luck.  There is no source date whatsoever on the content in-between.  Someone very naive could assume that the contents were the original work of a very talented teacher.  But I've seen this one before.  On TV.  It's a clip from the Animaniacs, and Wacko (or is it Yacko?) is singing a very copyrighted song.  Catchy.  Probably helpful for the students to remember all those state capitals, but still wrong.  At the very least, the poster should cite the source.  They should also have obtained permission to use the cartoon and to post it online.  The use may have been permissible for face-to-face instruction, but certainly not for internet distribution.  Another solution would be to have the students create their own state/capital song and film it for Teacher Tube.

The second video I'm looking at was on the main page on a list of popular videos.  Again, it violates copyright law.  It is called We Didn't Start the Fire, and uses the work of Billy Joel by the same name without giving him any credit.  The video link is: 

http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=1465&title=We_Didn_t_Start_the_Fire

Interestingly enough, the person who compiled all the photos, videos and other materials for the video is sure to give himself credit, but doesn't give credit anyone else at all.  Some of the source material may be copyright free, but certainly the sources should be cited.  Additionally, it is doubtful that Mr Joel and others actually granted permission for their creations to be used.  In a compilation such as this, it would be cumbersome and difficult to post a legible and complete bibliography as part of the video, but it would be feasible to post a link for it, and if the authors did indeed give permission, something like, "all materials used herein used by permission, where applicable," should be written visibly at either the beginning or the end. 

Copyright is a difficult issue.  I believe that if we all obeyed copyright laws more stringently, authors and other copyright holders would generally be more inclined to be generous with their work.