Media, Con't.
Reproducing from Video Recordings

The following guidelines are not included in the copyright laws, but were formulated by program producers and educational groups. Although they are not binding, the chances of copyright prosecution will be minimized if they are followed. They apply only to off-air recording by nonprofit educational institutions.

  • Broadcast programs may be recorded off-air simultaneously with broadcast transmission (including simultaneous cable retransmission) and retained by a nonprofit educational institution for a period not to exceed the first 45 consecutive calendar days after the date of recording. Upon conclusion of such retention periods, all off-air recordings must be erased or destroyed immediately.
    "Broadcast programs" are television programs transmitted by televisionstations for reception by the general public without charge.

  • Off-air recordings may be used once by individual teachers in the course of relevant teaching activities, and repeated once only when instructional reinforcement is necessary, in classrooms and similar places devoted to instruction within a single building, cluster or campus, as well as the homes of students receiving formalized home instruction, during the first 10 consecutive school days in the 45 calendar days retention period. "School days" are school session days--not counting weekends, holidays, vacations, examination periods, or other scheduled interruptions - within the 45 calendar day retention period.
  • Off-air recordings may be made only at the request of and used by individual teachers and may not be regularly recorded in anticipation of requests. No broadcast program may be recorded off-air more than once at the request of the same teacher, regardless of the number of times the program may be broadcast.
  • A limited number of copies may be reproduced from each off-air recording to meet the legitimate needs of teachers under these guidelines. Each such additional copy shall be subject to all provisions governing the original recording.
  • After the first 10 consecutive school days, off-air recordings may be used to the end of the 45 calendar day retention period only for teacher evaluation purposes, i.e., to determine whether to include the broadcast program in the teaching curriculum, and may not be used in the recording institution for student exhibition or any other non-evaluation purpose without authorization.
  • Off-air recordings need not be used in their entirety, but the recorded programs may not be altered from their original content. Off-air recordings may not be physically or electronically combined or merged to constitute teaching anthologies or compilations.
  • All copies of off-air recordings must include the copyright notice on the broadcast program as recorded
  • Educational institutions are expected to establish appropriate control procedures to maintain the integrity of these guidelines

The most appropriate way to avoid legal consequences from using copyrighted audio-visual materials is to request permission from the party with copyright interest. A permission request should include:

  • Correct title
  • Exact description of the material to be used
  • Type of reproduction
  • Number of copies to be made
  • Use to be made of reproduced material
  • Distribution of the reproduced material
  • Whether the material is to be sold and/or whether there will be a charge for viewing

In addition, faculty are reminded:

  • To ask permission only in writing, not by phone
  • To avoid asking for blanket permission to copy all works forever. There are licensing agreements that cover this. For example: San Jacinto College has a licensing agreement with ASCAP covering musical performances
  • To allow sufficient lead time for the copyright owner to process the request
  • To be sure to include a compete return address

While a permission letter or license agreement signed by the copyright owner will afford complete protection from prosecution in all situations, Section 107 of the copyright law, the "Fair Use Doctrine,"will afford a measure of protection in a few situations depending on certain tests.

In determining whether an act of copyright infringement is "fair use" acourt will consider:

  • The purpose and character of the use
  • The nature of the copyrighted work
  • The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole
  • The effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the work

The following situations are examples of the use of copyrighted materials:

  1. Example: A library buys one copy of a 16mm educational film and makes a video cassette copy for use in the library's video cassette play back area.
    This case is a clear-cut example of copyright infringement resultingfrom utilization of new technology. The copyright laws forbid the reproduction of a copyrighted work by anyone except the copyright proprietor. The fact that the library bought the copyrighted work does not mean it bought the rights to reproduce it.
  2. Example: A media center coordinator salvages useful frames from discarded filmstrips and converts them into slides for student use.
    This illustrates a classic problem which arises under the doctrine offair use. The salvaging of useful frames from a discarded filmstrip mayseem to be harmless if the number of frames used is very small and ifthe filmstrip is one which the school is no longer purchasing. However,the fact that the school has discarded the filmstrip does not mean that copyright protection has expired, and also does not mean that the copyright proprietor has not suffered an economic loss. Also, if the sequence of the visuals is changed, it might result in the creation of anew derivative work which may not accurately state the author's view. Preparing derivative works is a right reserved to the copyright proprietor.
  3. Example: A student prepares an audio report on new travel books inthe school library and uses "Around the World in Eighty Days," as background music.
    The issue presented here involves the appropriation of a copyrighted musical composition. However, this situation is comparable to an individual taping musical works in his or her own home for his or her own personal use and would be considered fair use, as distinguished froma teacher making copies for students who constitute broader audience.
  4. Example: A media director occasionally makes a videotape of a preview print of a 16mm film in order to allow preview over a longer period of time.
    The situation presented here is the unauthorized duplication of a copyrighted work. This is illegal, regardless of the fact that this particular use of the videotape may be less harmful to the copyright proprietor than a situation in which the videotapes were used forstudent viewing. Permission should be obtained from the copyright proprietor.
  5. Example: A high school student uses an opaque projector to enlarge a map from his geography book to help him or her draw a poster showing the location of Indian reservations.
    Clearly this is allowed under the law.
  6. Example: A librarian makes multiple cassette copies of classical musical albums in their entirety because the albums are not available in cassette form.
    This action constitutes copyright infringement. Unavailability of aparticular format is not justification for making copies of otherwise available phonorecords. The only circumstances recognized in the law that permit copying of entire phonorecord works are unavailability at afair price or preservation and protection of unpublished material.
  7. Example: A teacher requests the media center to copy various musical selections from radio programs on to audio tape in order to illustrate the forms of certain kinds of musical composition.
  8. Example: A teacher introduces a new workbook to the class and makesan overhead transparency of one page so he or she can demonstrate howthe students will work in their own books.
    These particular situations would be defined as fair use.
  9. Example: An audio portion of an evening television documentary on drug abuse is taped by a media coordinator for playback the next day.
    The sound track of a film product is protected by copyright to the sameextent as the visual materials. To duplicate it does not make thesituation any less of an infringement.
  10. Example: Students in a high school photography class want to use asong from a currently popular record as background music for a slide program produced as a class project. One of the students owns the record. The finished program will probably be shown at a school assembly and may be shown to some parents' groups. Copies will not be sold and there will not be an admission charge to see the program.
    This would be considered permissible under the law, provided that the materials are used only for this project and are not later sold or performed for profit.
  11. Example: A media center director makes a copy of audio records and tapes in the center to use as masters if the circulation copies are damaged.
    This practice is clearly not within the bounds of fair use because it deprives producers of sales. Some companies have established policies which allow duplication--with or without a fee--for this purpose, but permission must be obtained.

(Re: Policy VI-K; Board of Trustees Policy Manual)


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