04/09/18 – NFHS Music Copyright Course Required for Cheer/Dance Coaches

April 8, 2018 Athletic Department Blog Updates

At its July Board of Control meeting, the Board approved a recommendation that would require completion of the new NFHS Music Copyright Course for KHSAA Cheer and Dance Coaches (Head and Assistant). Because of delays in rolling the course out this year, the course will be required for 2018-19 for those all coaches in all Cheer and Dance squads at KHSAA member schools. This requirement is in place whether or not a team competes in KHSAA competition. The course is free, and totally online, and must be completed prior to the declaration date for Cheer and Dance (October 1, 2018).

The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) has added an online education course – Understanding Copyright and Compliance. This free course from the NFHS is geared toward music teachers, spirit coaches (cheer and dance) and school administrators. Understanding Copyright and Compliance is available through the NFHS Learning Center at www.NFHSLearn.com.

The course explores copyright laws and how those laws impact the interscholastic community and the course was produced with the assistance of NAME (National Association for Music Education) and USA Cheer. It also expands on topics such as fair use, public domain, copyright infringement penalties and much more.

Spirit squads, as well as Dance teams, are increasingly met with copyright infringement claims and this course is a tool to assist cheer and dance coaches in education on the topic. This course will show what you can do and what you need permission to do. It’s all black and white, and it’s all cited back to the copyright law. In particular, there is considerable focus on “mash-ups” and using the material in a different way than originally intended by the composer, author or artist.

Additional information regarding the pitfalls of failing to adhere to license agreements is available on the KHSAA Cheer and Dance web pages.

– KHSAA –

The KHSAA staff routinely publishes blog posts to better communicate with its various constituencies and the public. For a list of those blogs, go to http://khsaa.org/news-stats-pubs/sports-blogs/