December 10, 2007
Copyright Alliance Proposes Wiki to Help Professors Get Permissions for Classroom Use
Washington — So a professor wants to show Monty Python and the Holy Grail to her class on British humor, and she wants to check with the film studio to get permission. How would she do that? As it stands, the semester could be over by the time the professor even finds the right person to ask.
A nonprofit group called the Copyright Alliance, whose members include associations for the motion-picture and recording industries, announced today that it would like to help broker such requests. The idea, described briefly at an academic symposium held by the group on Monday in Washington, is to create a Web site where professors could post questions like the the one above and get answers from an industry official. The online resource would take the form of a wiki, a communal Web site that allows visitors to easily post new comments and track the changes that have been made.
Patrick Ross, executive director of the Copyright Alliance, said in an interview after the symposium that he had been talking with alliance members from the content industry who were ready to proceed, assuming that colleges want such a system.
“We wanted to know what the temperature would be like in the academic community and felt that this event would be a way to take that temperature,” he said. “I think based on the conversations I’ve had and what I’ve heard on the panels, there’s cautious optimism.”
He said entertainment-industry officials favored setting up such a wiki in hopes that it would answer complaints from professors that industry representatives did not respond quickly enough to requests for educational use of their films and songs.
“They don’t mean to be uncooperative, it’s just that their businesses are not set up to be performing this service,” said Mr. Ross. He said that if another professor looked at the wiki and saw that a particular movie studio generally granted permission for classroom use, he could be assured that he could also use a film from that studio without getting specific permission. “They could go to their general counsel and say this is pretty comparable,” said Mr. Ross.
Patricia Aufderheide, a professor at American University, said in an interview after the event that such a wiki could do more harm than good.
“I’m worried about further copyright misinformation,” she said, noting that many times presentation of movie clips in classrooms falls under fair use, so that no permission is required.
She also disagreed with Mr. Ross over how useful the wiki would be as a source of guidance. “Having NBC saying I won’t sue you if you do this really won’t help the next guy because the situation will be different,” she said.
Mr. Ross said he planned to meet with key university officials working on copyright issues to see whether such concerns could be overcome.
“There’s going to have to be trust won on both sides, I think, for this to succeed,” he said. —Jeffrey R. Young
Posted on Monday December 10, 2007 | Permalink |Comments
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It seems that the rationale for this idea springs from the ambiguity in the TEACH Act and how well faculty not only are versed, but can be versed in how it is applied. What is needed is more clarity in how fair-use is defined for faculty, but that is often hard to determine – even for lawyers.
— Drew Dec 10, 03:47 PM #
I once took a movie class where the professor showed 10-15 movies or parts of movies, and I’m quite sure without any permission whatsoever. I think it’s best to go on the premise that it’s easier to get forgiveness than permission.
— Tom Cole Dec 10, 05:57 PM #
This may turn out to be a useful service. However, the example used requires no asking and no permission. The statue provides for showing films in a face-to-face classroom situation.
— DRL Dec 10, 06:12 PM #
It’s interesting that this service is offering to get copyright guidance for something that’s already permitted – using media in face-to-face teaching. It would be sad if this service led to a further erosion of fair use and Teach Act privileges for education.
— Amused (and dismayed) observer Dec 10, 08:14 PM #
This is outlandish. Copyright holders are trying to convince academics to come begging, hat in hand, for a right that the law plainly gives them.
17 USC § 110 states, “the following are not infringements of copyright: (1) performance or display of a work by instructors or pupils in the course of face-to-face teaching activities of a nonprofit educational institution, in a classroom or similar place devoted to instruction…”
As long as you’re using a copy that was legally made (e.g., a store-bought or library-borrowed DVD, a VHS recording of a news program, etc.), you can use it in the classroom. This doesn’t depend upon the amount shown (use the whole movie if that’s the lesson), and you don’t need permission from the copyright holder.
Go look it up:
http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#110
So Patrick Ross pretends this section doesn’t exist, urges us all to ask permission before doing something 100% legal, and then has the nerve to say, “There’s going to have to be trust won on both sides, I think, for this to succeed.” On that count, sir, you have failed spectacularly.
— Maj. Lee Peeved Dec 10, 08:56 PM #
Please look past the example and look at the proposal. Professors now are seeking permission for use of different sorts. Their complaint is that it takes a long time to get a response. I’m trying to answer their complaint by speeding the approval process, or even making it so they don’t have to ask at all.
If any professor believes her use is legally protected, she won’t be asking for permission, so she won’t be a part of this system.
I would welcome constructive suggestions on how this approach could be improved.
— Patrick Ross Dec 11, 11:18 AM #
Mr. Ross,
Perhaps you could alleviate some of the concerns mentioned if you could address what would happen if a faculty member contacted your service with a proposed use that is clearly already allowed under copyright law & general guidelines. Many faculty do not have access to good advice, so may not know what they can really do. Would you refer all requests automatically on to the content owners, or would you advise faculty that their proposed use may already be acceptable without seeking further permission?
— Amused (and dismayed) observer Dec 11, 02:50 PM #
Dear Amused,
By launching a wiki, I’m not actually passing anything on, professors are posting in full view of all, and copyright owners are responding in full view of all.
The idea of a “green light” is that a copyright holder says it won’t sue. What you are proposing is different; it’s a system whereby copyright owners educate professors on copyright law. I don’t have an objection to that per se, but something tells me many in academia would prefer that education come from a different source.
Our goal here is to have materials used in the classroom as quickly as possible. If a use that is legal under statute is green-lighted because a professor didn’t know it was legal, the only harm I see is the delay resulting from the fact that the professor didn’t have to ask. She will still be able to use the work.
We are happy to work with academia to help educate professors about clearly legal uses defined specifically by statute. As you surely know, though, that is different from fair use, which while also legal is not clearly defined. Instead, it’s a series of factors and circumstances, and the potential user has to decide if the use is “fair” or not. Our wiki isn’t set up to address those problems, nor could we; ultimately only a court can decide if something is “fair use,” not the user and not the owner.
— Patrick Ross Dec 11, 04:53 PM #