Film and Media

LIBR 220-12

Kristi Mansolf

Prof: Tom Ipri

Fair Use

The TEACH Act

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)

Fair Use

Fair use is a term applied to the evaluation of the use of copyrighted works. Exploitation

of copyrighted works occurs if an individual or group uses a copyrighted work for commercial

purposes. For commercial uses, permission has to be granted so that an infringement doesn’t

occur. When an individual uses a portion of a copyrighted work for education, research,

scholarly use, news reporting and/or to comment upon it or for the purpose of criticism, he or she

could be using the copyrighted work in a way acceptable by law. However, four additional

provisions must also be considered:

-Is the work being used for commercial or non-profit educational purposes?

-What is the nature of the copyrighted work to be used?

-How much of the work is being used?

-How will the value or the market for the copyrighted work be impacted by the use of

the original work? (CornellUniversityLawSchool, 2007)

Section 107 of the Copyright Act addresses fair use, which was not part of the earlier

Some aspects of fair use are still not well-defined, such as how much of a work

can be used legally, but again, it depends on the way the material is used. When in doubt, it is

always best to obtain permission. (U.S. Copyright Office – Fair Use, 2006)

I feel this information on fair use makes it sound as though it is unacceptable to

show a movie in a classroom for educational purposes. The Cost of Copyright Confusion

for Media Literacy (2007) and some of the situations given in this work helped to clarify

Section 107. Knowing that a public library can purchase a public-performance license and that

librarians can be sued for copyright infringement is good information forlibrarians to know.

Knowing that school libraries don’t usually purchase a public-performance license but still have

the ability to show whole works in a face to face environment is also useful to know. Fair use in

theory is a gray area that becomes more clear when examples applied to real life situations are

given.

The TEACH Act

The TEACH Act was enacted by Congress in October, 2002 and signed into law by

President Bush in November, 2002. The law pertains to distance education and specifies

requirements for the conditions by which educators can use original and/or copyrighted works in

the context of the educator’s distance curriculum.

Previous, closed-circuit television was the only medium addressed in a distance learning

environment, and there were restrictions on the type of materials that could be used.. The

TEACH Act attempts to include all technologies and all types of work. The TEACH Act helps to

define fair use for educators. It sets out guidelines for such things as time parameters for storage

of materials, time parameters for how long the work will be available to students, how a student is

defined in the context of the law for the purposes of distance education, how much of a work can

be displayed for distance learning, etc.. Interestingly, where face to face education allows a

whole film to be used, distance educators can only show clips of a work. An important provision

of Section 110(2) is the right to copy analog versions of a work if the work doesn’t already exist

in digital form. The law applies only to accredited non-profit educational institution.

With this law comes new responsibilities for institutional policy makers, information

technology officials, instructors, and librarians. Institutional policy makers can address how this

law is written into the institutions policies. Information technology officials can implement

measures of technological controls of storage and dissemination. Instructors will have to comply

and demonstrate fair use. Librarians can negotiate contracts for databases and use of materials

and help to prevent illegal uploading and piracy. Librarians can have a role in creating copyright

policy for their library. (Crews).

Although this provision of copyright law is clear, it is also complicated and one must

really get familiar with all of the information in it to develop a working knowledge of this law.

DMCA

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) of 1998 was passed by Congress

in 1998. The law came about from two treaties on internet copyrights that were considered at the

World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, in December,

1996, when 160 countries, including the United States, agreed on taking the treaties back to their

countries for ratification. One treaty made theU. S.standard for electronic copyright protections

for creators of literary and artistic works a global standard. The second treaty addresses the

duplication of sound recordings off the air or from computer networks and is now an international

agreement (since the WIPO meeting in 1996). (Schwartz, 1996). The treaties were to have an

impact on the way business may be done in foreign countries, where widespread distribution of

unauthorized works is seen as a problem. The United States takes a proactive position in

supporting technological innovations that support commerce. Many companies afraid to

participate in this emerging international marketplace due to the variations of copyright

protection available in different countries, and the variations in how enforcement may

be administered, now have the law behind them should infringement occur. As the treaties

discouraged unauthorized use of items such as computer programs or music CDs, it was felt that

the treaties would generate new export sales in the United States. Essentially, the laws pertaining

to copyright protection already in place in the United States would be extended to be worldwide.

The DCMA was seen as solving some of the problems that were occurring or had

the potential to occur due to the widespread uses possible and the ever expanding nature

of the internet. The law was intended to implement the 1996 WIPO treaties,

with some additional provisions. According to the University of California, Los Angeles,

Online Institute for Cyberspace Law and Policy, there are many provisions, such as, it is illegal to

disable or override anti-piracy systems built into commercial software; code-cracking devices

cannot be sold, made or distributed; non-profit libraries, archives and educational institutions are

exempt from anti-circumvention provisions; etc. Digital technologies for distance education are

addressed, as is the limiting of liability of nonprofit institutions of higher education when they are

serving as online service providers – and in certain situations faculty and graduate students are

The DMCA attempts to close several of the gaps that have occurred through

technological advances, especially over the last 15 years with the development of internet. I find

this law to be fairly clear and specific especially as compared to the doctrine of fair use. I don’t

feel it is necessary to read case histories to understand when this law is being broken.

References

CornellUniversityLawSchool (2007). U. S. Code, Title 17, Chapter 1,

Section 107. Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use. Retrieved July 8, 2008, from:

Crews, K. (no date). New copyright law for distance education: The meaning and importance of

the TEACH Act. American Library Association. Retrieved July 10, 2008, from:

Hobbs, R., Jaszi, P., Aufderheide, P. (2007). The cost of copyright confusion for media

Literacy. AmericanUniversity, Center for Social Media. Retrieved July 9, 2008,

from:

t_confusion_for_media_literacy

Schwartz, J. (1996). 160 Countries Set Treaties on Internet Copyrights.

Washingtonpost.com. Retrieved July 9, 2008, from:

University of California, Los Angeles, Online Institute for Cyberspace Law and Policy.

U. S. Copyright Office (2006). Copyright, Fair Use. Retrieved July 8, 2008, from: