Here is my understanding of US copyright provisions for
videotaped films. There is a fair use provision in the law
for educational use.
I would like to here from people in other countries, as we
did from Alan Wilson in Australia, of their copyright laws.
Surely it affects those of us who teach abroad and use film.
Joe Champoux
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Copyright Issues
Using scenes or entire movies for instructional use raises
several issues about copyright infringement. Separate issues
center on using videotapes made by off-air taping of television
broadcasts and using film scenes in workshops done for a fee.
The following presents guidelines and observations for legal use
in the three situations. They are summarized from several
sources that have addressed these issues (Miller, 1988; Sinofsky,
1994; Talab, 1986). These guidelines are not legal advice; if in
doubt, consult an attorney.
The terms "copyright act" or "act" refer to the 1976 General
Revision of Copyright Law. This law passed Congress in 1976,
became effective January 1, 1978, and appears as Sections 101-810
of the U.S. Code. Section 107 describes fair use limitations of
copyright holder rights. Section 110 describes the lawful
display of copyrighted material.
VIDEOTAPED MOVIES FOR COURSES
The copyright act allows showing a copyrighted film or
portion of a copyrighted film during the regular course of
instruction. This showing must happen in a regular classroom of
a nonprofit educational institution. Either the class instructor
or students in the class can show the film as part of an
instructional activity. You cannot charge a fee for viewing the
film or scene nor can you open the event to the public. A legal
copy of the film or scenes must be used. This provision usually
means an authorized copy you rent or buy or one for which you
have a license to copy.
Purchased or rented videotaped movies usually have a notice
that says the tape is for private home use and not for public
performance. The usage described in the previous paragraph does
not violate this provision. Students viewing a tape in their
home for a class assignment also does not violate the notice if
the student does not show it to the public.
OFF-AIR TAPING
The Guidelines for Off-Air Recording of Broadcast
Programming for Educational Purposes clearly state the legal use
of off-air recordings (Talab, 1986: 37-41, 116, 124-125). Only
teachers in nonprofit educational institutions can legally record
and use broadcast material for teaching purposes. The program
material must directly apply to instructional content. Programs
sent by the major broadcasters (ABC, NBC, CBS) to the general
public at no charge over air waves, cable, or satellite qualify.
Programs for which there is a charge, and material available for
rent or purchase, do not qualify.
Specialty programming from sources such as "The Discovery
Channel" and "The Disney Channel" are not covered by the
copyright act. They comply with the Communications Act of 1934
(488 Stat. 1014) as amended for satellite broadcast. The act has
no fair use provision. Using programming from these sources
requires a license from the programmer (Talab, 1986: 40).
You can show recorded material once during the first ten
class days following the broadcast and repeat it once during the
same ten days. Recorded material can be kept for forty-five
consecutive days after recording. After that time, the material
must be erased. The recorded material also must be shown in
regular classrooms of the institution. You cannot lend a tape
for student viewing nor use them away from regular classrooms.
The recorded material must show the original copyright
notice. You do not need to show the entire broadcast; you can
show excerpts. You cannot alter the original material in any way
including compiling them into anthologies.
The guidelines imply a need for careful record keeping
within an institution about usage and disposal of recorded tapes.
They also have other provisions. See the cited source for more
detail.
VIDEOTAPED MOVIES FOR TRAINING WORKSHOPS
The grayest and least tested area of the copyright act is
usage in training workshops (Miller, 1988: Chs. 5 & 6; Talab,
1986: Ch. 5). A paid consultant who offers training programs to
the public likely violates the act by showing copyrighted movies
or scenes. A paid consultant doing in-house training for a
company's employees likely does not violate the act. A paid
consultant who works for a nonprofit organization might not
violate the act.
The vague wording of this section emphasizes the lack of
clear guidelines for this usage of copyrighted films. You can
consult the citations for this section and an attorney for more
guidance.
[EXCERPTED FROM:]
FILM AS A TEACHING RESOURCE
Joseph E. Champoux
The Robert O. Anderson Schools of Management
The University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131 USA
505.856.6253 505.277.7108 (FAX)
Email:
champoux@unm.edu Journal of Management Inquiry, in press.
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For materials on film as a teaching resource, go to:
asm.unm.edu, Courses' Data Files, my name, and folder
"filmtchg." You can download the Word documents for
the latest on teaching with film.
Joseph E. Champoux, Ph.D.
Professor of Management
The Robert O. Anderson Schools of Management
The University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131
USA
505.277.3237; 505.277.7108 (FAX)
Home office and voice mail: 505.856.6253
E-mail:
champoux@unm.edu