The Headache of Copyright

I would really like to impress you all and say I have copyright laws down but judging by my test scores, I simply do not. I really tried to read the rules and apply them to the test; however when taking the test I thought more along the lines of she's doing it for good verses she's doing it for bad. I wish that mind set was simply enough however everyone wants credit for everything, some of which have not even yet to be created. The whole thing is absolutely bewildering to me. To be truthful I think the whole issue of copyright on the internet is not only confusing but frustrating. I would rather be told that I could not use anything from the internet ever than go through the headache of trying to memorize what is acceptable and what is not. I believe that the majority of "cheating" that occurs on the internet, is not cheating at all, rather a lack of effort or knowledge. Nothing in this world would posses me to ask someone for permission to use a picture of Elmo. Ever. While reading over the copyright laws, one major guideline technology uses is not even a law, only a suggestion. So what happens if you break that suggestion? Won't everyone do the same? And if so what is the point of the guideline? For the technological elite who take the time to invest in the proper steps of adding a picture to a slideshow for class? The only relief I feel is Creative Commons. Creative Commons provides a place where the rules are clearly stated and simplified. I can take a picture and that be the end of it, but if I want another picture, perhaps more desirable, I can simply write a name below the picture and I'm safe. Creative Commons is my heaven. I will try my best to follow the copyright laws my head has been able to retain, one of which it is legal for me to make back up disks in case one of my students breaks it (question from test), but aside from that I can truthfully say I will not be able to follow all the rules. Copyright laws ask to much of me. When I am creating a presentation on the art of deception I am concerned with the art of deception, not whether my picture will bring any new form of revenue that will not be directed to the creator. Internet, this is directed at you, let me have it all or let me have nothing. I do not want to go to jail for inserting "Let It Be" into a presentation but in this stage in my life I do not posses the energy it would take to memorize all the copyright laws and guidelines. I promise to make an effort, I promise to try and follow all the rules, I promise to incorporate legal technology into my classroom, but internet, please change. Creative Commons needs to take over the internet. The whole internet should be a replica of Creative Commons, that's a technological world I can thrive in!