Copyright Considerations in Classroom and Academic Media Services Showings
General Copyright Considerations
Copyright law protects authors/creators of original works, including literary
dramatic, musical, artistic, and other intellectual products and applies
to all forms of reproduction. This protection begins the moment a work is
first fixed in a tangible medium of expression and attaches whether or not
a work is published or registered. The copyright notice is not required for
works published after 1989.
The copyright holder has at least five exclusive rights:
- To reproduce copies of the work.
- To prepare derivative works based on the original work.
- To distribute copies of the work.
- To publicly perform the work.
- To publicly display the work.
If you wish to use a copyrighted work in any of the above ways, you must
obtain permission from the copyright holder unless you fall within a
statutory exemption (here, section 110(2) of the United States Copyright Act,
17 U.S.C.) or within the fair use doctrine set forth in section 107 of the
Copyright Act.
Section 110 of the Copyright Act provides limitations on the exclusive rights
of the copyright holder in favor of teachers in nonprofit educational institutions.
Section 110(1)allows teachers and students in a nonprofit educational institution to perform or
display any copyrighted work in the course of face-to-face
instruction in a classroom setting. It is this section which has allowed univerity
instructors to read a poem aloud, act out a play, display a photograph or slide or play an audiovisual work
embodied in a videotape. This section does not apply to transmissions
or broadcasts, i.e. Academic Media Services.
Special Academic Media Services
Considerations
The Copyright Act, which has been in effect for almost 20 years, differentiates
between what can be performed and/or displayed in a traditional classroom (faculty and
students in the same physical location) as opposed to what can be performed and/or
displayed over transmission, including closed circuit or cable, to students at a remote
location--even if to WSU students enrolled in a WSU course).
Conversely, section 110(2) does apply to Academic Media Services
transmissions under
specified circumstances. Section 110(2) allows the transmission of a performance of a nondramatic literary or musical work
or display of a work for systematic instructional activity under the following conditions:
- The performance or display must be directly related and of materials assistance
to the teaching content of the transmission; and
- The transmission must be received in classrooms or other places normally devoted
to instruction.
Examples of such performances and displays are singing a song, reading a short story, or displaying
photographs and illustrations.
A literary work is defined in the Copyright Act as "a work, other than an audiovisual
work, expressed in words, numbers, or other verbal or numerical symbols or indices, regardless of
the nature of the materials objects, such as books, periodicals, manuscripts, phonorecords, film, tapes,
disks, or cards, in which they are embodied."
Please note from the above that the performance of entire audiovisual works falls outside the purview
of section 110(2) and permission should be obtained.
Another possible solution would be to have sufficient copies of the work for each location thus
taking the performance back into section 110(1).
Showing portions of an audiovisual work may be permitted under section 107, the fair use doctrine. For
assistance in making a fair use analysis, please refer to WSU's Guidelines for Educational Use of Copyrighted
Materials or contact WSU's Copyright Specialist.
The threshold question to consider is:
IS THE PROPOSED MATERIAL "AUDIOVISUAL" OR NOT?
Audiovisual is defined as work that consist of a series of related images which are intrinsically intended
to be shown by the use of machines or devices such as projectors, viewers, or electronic equipment, together with
accompanying sounds, if any, regardless of the nature of the material objects, such as films or tapes,
in which the works are embodied.
If the proposed material is audiovisual, you cannot transmit it without permission from the copyright
holder.
This means:
- Cannot show/play a visual or audio sequence from a motion picture, videocassette, videolaserdisc, DVD, or CD-I.
- Cannot show consecutive images from a slide or filmstrip.
NON-AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS
- Printed Materials
- Multiple copies for students: permission may/may not be required: See Guidelines for Educational
Use of Copyrighted Materials.
- You may show text, maps, graphs, charts, pictures, cartoons, photographs
newspaper articles, etc.
- Slides, Movies, Filmstrips:
- May show slides or transparencies from a set as long as nonsequential.
- May show a still frame from a filmstrip, motion picture, videocassette,
videolaserdisc, DVD, or CD-I.
- Music: [By itself, i.e, not from motion picture or other audiovisual work]
- May play, perform, or sing.
- But creating a derivative work or synchronizing with images likely to be infringement.
- Photographs/Images:
- Plays/Dances:
- May read aloud by cannot act out in dramatic form; cannot perform a dance.
- Programs Recorded from Television:
- These are audiovisual works; see audiovisual works above.
NEED ACADEMIC MEDIA SERVICES
PERMISSION FOR AUDIOVISUAL WORKS?
Here are some steps to follow:
- Check both the media item and its box (if you still have it)
for a copyright notice. Although a copyright notice is no longer required
for works created after March 1, 1989, many works still use one. If there
is a different holder on the box, start with that as it frequently is
more recent.
- Locate the holder and fax them requesting their permissions
department. This is generally faster than a telephone call.
- After faxing the permission request, wait approximately one
week and then follow up with a telephone call to the permissions department.
Ascertain that your fax was received and its current location. It may
be that the fax did not reach the appropriate individual and you will
need to resend. If you and your fax have reached the correct person, you
will need to explain your proposed use of their material. Emphasize the
nonprofit educational nature of your use, the closed circuit characteristics
of the Academic Media Services
system, and that the transmission (NEVER use the word,
broadcast) only will be viewed by students enrolled in your course
as opposed to the public at large. This may also be the time to describe
the limited financial resources if any, available to you and your department
for royalty payments.
- If you cannot ascertain the name of the copyright holder and
fax number from the media item or the box, you will need to research the
identity of the copyright holder.
If you obtained the item from the Media Materials & Reserves collection,
chances are excellent that the copyright holder is kept on file. Additionally,
the MM&R houses a fairly complete collection of the many catalogs available
from film distribution companies such as Women Make Movies or Films for
the Humanities and Sciences.
If the media item belongs to a friend or a department, check out any accompanying
materials. Look for the person who ordered or purchased the film for information
on where they got it. Was it obtained at a conference? A standard book
in library reference departments, the Encyclopedia of Associations,
may help to locate the sponsoring organization.
- Some companies are more reasonable than others. If a copyright
holder either refuses permission or wants excessive amounts of money,
do find a different media item. MM&R houses a Film Superlist of
public domain films that would obviate the need for copyright permission.
A review of the above-mentioned catalogs may reveal a great item available
from a more reasonable copyright holder.
- The University sets its copyright guidelines from the WSU Copyrights Office.