MYTH: FAIR USE COULD
GET ME SUED.
Truth: That’s very,
very unlikely. We don’t know of any lawsuit actually brought by an American
media company against an educator over the use of media in the educational
process. Before even considering a lawsuit, a copyright owner typically will
take the cheap and easy step of sending a “cease and desist” letter, sometimes
leading the recipient to think that she is being sued rather than just
threatened. An aggressive tone does not necessarily mean that the claims are
legitimate or that a lawsuit will be filed.
What the heck is fair use??
Fair Use is codified in U.S.
Copyright law at 17 U.S.C. § 107. It states that the
Fair Use of a copyrighted work for purposes such as criticism, comment, news
reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of
copyright. (Meaning the right to use
copyrighted material without paying or needing permission).
Now read the text in red one more time…your use must be for “purposes such as criticism, comment, news
reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship,
or research.”
A court will then consider the
following four factors to determine if your use is a fair use:
•
the purpose and
character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or
is for nonprofit educational purposes;
•
the nature of the
copyrighted work;
•
the amount and
substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a
whole; and
•
the effect of the
use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
If your use falls into one of the categories
AND you are able to prevail factually on at least two of the four second-prong
factors, you might succeed in proving that your use is fair and thus not
copyright infringement.
Because there is a sizable gray
area in which fair use may or may not apply, there is never a guarantee that
your use will qualify as a fair use. The fair use doctrine has been described
as a murky concept in which it is often difficult to separate the lawful from
the unlawful.
References
How I Learned to Love FAIR USE….
(2003, July 6). Retrieved February 25, 2015, from http://fairuse.stanford.edu/2003/07/06/how_i_learned_to_love_fair_use/
(n.d.). Retrieved February 25, 2015,
from
http://mediaeducationlab.com/sites/mediaeducationlab.com/files/CodeofBestPracticesinFairUse_0.pdf
Thanks for enlightening me with this fair use information. When I was a teacher we would order sample books from book companies to see if their material would be good enough for our school to purchase. If we liked the material we would use it (make copies) from the books to use and teach with. Every page would typically have a huge "Do Not Copy" sign on it. When the question would always come up as to whether or not we were violating any copyright laws I would always tell my colleagues that we couldn't be sued because we were under a "educational clause" not really knowing the extent of what I was saying. Now that I am a media specialist I have to watch the PTA because they love to show Disney movies as a fundraiser. I have even checked into purchasing a license to use the movies for a year but it is extremely expensive. I just advise my parents to show the movie for free and sell goodies and treats.
ReplyDeleteWhen I sat down and spoke with my librarian for an interview for one of my classes, copyright issue came up. She said that at our school the biggest concern she has is with teachers watching Disney movies. Yes we do have movies in the library that teachers can check out to watch in their classroom, but the problem is there aren’t enough movies. Many of the movies that we do have aren’t geared towards primary children. Those that are geared towards them are hard to check to out when 40 teachers all want a Valentine’s movie to watch on Valentine’s Day and the library only has 2. In order to provide a movie to watch, teachers are left bringing in Disney movies from home. I never thought anything about it. I assumed that if I purchased the movie that it would be alright to show it to my students. I understand that fair use provides me some leverage but now I wonder how much.
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ReplyDeleteThanks for this helpful information about misuse of the Fair Use of copyright laws. I haven’t heard where an educator was sued for copyright infringement either. It is good to know that an educator has not been sued, but there are rules to follow to keep from being sued. We as educator have a moral to do what is right when we know the copyright laws. We need to review the Fair Use in U.S. Copyright law as needed to stay informative. This could be done as staff development designed by the media specialist. Even though there are some gray areas, we have to be mindful not to end up on the criminal side of the law.
ReplyDeleteA media specialist I had years ago was very serious and doom and gloom in presenting her copyright presentation each year. She always told us that Disney had a record of suing educators for showing their movies in school. I honestly had no idea that we how much we actually can do as teachers. In today's world, I'm more curious about streaming video from youtube and netflix. When I taught first grade, I did it often. I stay away from fluff Disney movies and show educational videos (PBS shows mostly) but I wonder if that is truly okay.
ReplyDeleteA media specialist I had years ago was very serious and doom and gloom in presenting her copyright presentation each year. She always told us that Disney had a record of suing educators for showing their movies in school. I honestly had no idea that we how much we actually can do as teachers. In today's world, I'm more curious about streaming video from youtube and netflix. When I taught first grade, I did it often. I stay away from fluff Disney movies and show educational videos (PBS shows mostly) but I wonder if that is truly okay.
ReplyDeleteI agree that fair use is a murky concept and that sometimes one feels uncomfortable when using materials because of the fear of using materials illegally. You state that infringement of copyrighted materials against criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research are permissible. This sounds as if everything is okay, except if the user is profiting from the material, and in actuality can any defense reorganize their usage to fit into one of these categories? I think that is why the area is a murky concept and risky depending on the usage and the availability of the material. You state the absence of lawsuits, I believe this is because the original author is the person who is actively looking for someone misrepresenting his/her work and would be the one to ask the courts to uphold this law. For authors/creators who are dead or have no representation that is when the use of fairness can begin to bleed over into an unfair act. Interesting option, thanks Danielle.
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