MightyRecruiterCopyrighted works fall under a different level of protection when used in an educational setting. Teachers and students frequently turn to specific works for a comprehensive education. In this educational setting, it isn’t always necessary for teachers and students to pay for licenses for the works when they are only being used to back up a viewpoint in a term paper or to demonstrate an idea. The Copyright Act has a fair use doctrine that allows teachers and students to use or reproduce parts of a work that normally fall under copyright protection. If the work is used for part of the student’s education, he or she can often use it without paying.
What Constitutes Fair Use
A copyright protects a work from being copied, performed or displayed in an unauthorized manner. However, the Copyright Act recognizes that in certain situations it’s best to allow a work to be used without compensation to its copyright holder. For instance, if someone quotes a short passage from a book for a book report, this would be considered fair use. There is no comprehensive list for what constitutes fair use, and each instance depends on the individual circumstances surrounding it.
Fair Use in Education
Students and teachers should examine four factors in order to determine when it’s okay to use copyrighted works in their education. Character of the Use—The use is often fair when a student or teacher uses the work only for educational purposes. Nature of the Work—It is usually fair when a factual work is used in research, and creative work can also often be used as long as it is limited and all the other factors are met. The Amount Used—Teachers and students who only use a small part of the work are generally in line with fair use; however, if they use entire works, or copy substantial amounts of a work, then the use may not be considered fair. The Use’s Effect on the Market—Students and teachers are not using the work fairly when they need the full version of the copyrighted work but only copy select parts in order to avoid a license.
Fair Use for Videos in the Classroom
Teachers use various media to educate their students, including Internet articles, books, videos and sheet music. Videos have their own rules for viewership, and a committee has established guidelines that let students and teachers know when and how they can make copies of videos for educational purposes.
1. The guidelines refer to a non-profit educational institution’s use of off-air recordings.
2. Broadcast programs (including cable programs) can be recorded and used by the institution for 45 days after the recording date.
3. The off-air recording can only be used once by a teacher, and only with relevant teaching activities; the viewing may be repeated once if it is necessary for instructional reinforcement.
4. Only individual teachers can make off-air recordings, and the recordings can’t be made in anticipation of requests. A teacher cannot make a new recording of an identical broadcast.
5. Only a certain number of copies can be made from each recording, as needed to meet the needs of the teachers under the guidelines.
6. After the first 10 school days, a teacher can view the recording during the rest of the 45 calendar days, but only in order to determine whether to use the broadcast in his or her curriculum.
7. Recorded programs can’t be altered or used as part of an anthology or compilation.
8. Copies must include the video’s copyright notice as recorded on the broadcast program.
9. Educational institutions must establish procedures to maintain the guidelines’ integrity.
The Copyright Act recognizes the value of fair use when it comes to copyrighted works in the classroom. As long as teachers and students follow protocols, their use is usually above reproach.
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