J.K. Rowling Makes Harry Potter Available to Teachers During Coronavirus Crisis
Teachers looking to keep their kids occupied during remote learning have at least one new tool in their arsenal, as Harry Potter wizard J.K. Rowling announced on her site that she is granting “open license” to the beloved book series to teachers during the coronavirus pandemic.
The full details are available on Rowling’s official website:
Teachers anywhere in the world are permitted to post videos of themselves reading from Harry Potter books 1-7 onto schools’ secure networks or closed educational platforms from today until the end of the school year (or the end of July in southern hemisphere). A full set of Guidelines for Teachers are downloadable here.
The fine print indicates that teachers no longer need licenses if they want to record themselves reading Harry Potter stories aloud for their students. From now through the end of the 2019-2020 school year, any such restrictions are off the table — although teachers should not posting these videos on YouTube for commercial purposes. (That’s still a no-no; this is more for private Google Classroom-type settings.)
Rowling’s site promises this is the “first of several initiatives being planned” during this period. We wouldn’t mind making some of the movies available too; we have a lot of time on our hands right now. A Harry Potter marathon would really hit the spot. Meanwhile, Fantastic Beasts 3 is one of the many films whose production has been temporarily shut down due to the spread of coronavirus.
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