By: Heather Clark

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Have you ever:
Downloaded a video from YouTube to use in a presentation?

Copied a History Channel show to watch in the classroom?

Had a movie day as a reward for good behavior?

If yes, then you are a great teacher you may also be a
copyright violator!
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When is it OK to use video and movies strictly for
educational purposes?

Section 107 of the Federal Copyright Act states
that the copyright holder retains exclusive
public performance rights regardless of how the
material is acquired, whether admission was
charged, whether the facility is non-profit, and
whether a federal, state or local authority is
involved.


Except Education!
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Section 107 states that video or movie may be
played in a school if it is:

recorded in its entirety simultaneously with the broadcast,
free of charge, in response to a specific request and not
altered.
retained by the educational institution for no longer that 45
days after the date of the recording.
used only once with each class during the first ten
consecutive school days of the 45-day retention period.
used from the tenth to the 45th day of the retention period
for teacher-evaluation purposes only.

In addition, in 1976 guidelines for the use of videotapes in
classrooms was developed. Videos may be shown only for
educational purposes, not for student entertainment.
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The educational exemption for videos
used in student multi-media projects
provides that:

A teacher is present.
The showing takes place in a classroom where only
enrolled students are attending.
The movie is central to the core curriculum.
The movie is a legitimate copy.
May use 10% or no more than 3 minutes of a video.
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*Discuss the scenarios.
Determine if they violate
copyright laws or if the
teacher is protected.
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Senora Ferguson teaches Spanish 2 and 3. She
wants to reward her students for getting a B
average on the most recent test. So she rewards
them by allowing them to watch Finding Nemo
in Spanish using the language selection on the
DVD she bought. However, since the dialogue is
quick, she creates subtitles herself to help her
students follow along.

Is Senora Ferguson protected?
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ANSWER No

Although the video was legally acquired with a
language feature, Sra Ferguson is not showing
the video for educational purposes, rather as a
reward. Further, the addition of sub-titles to the
video alters the original product.
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A student in Mrs. Clarks class put together a
presentation on how to teach standard deviation.
In his presentation, the student links to a 2
minutes and 30 second YouTube video clip of
Bad Teacher where the main character is
talking about the unreliability of statistics.

Is this clip protected under fair use?
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Answer: Possibly
It depends on how the video clip was acquired. If it was
acquired with a video camera taping a television
performance or a movie screen, then no it is not
protected because it is a not a legitimate copy.

However, if the video was legally acquired through a video
store, then yes, it is protected as it is under 3 minutes in
length.

Not everything that is up on YouTube is acquired legally.
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Miss Fords US History class is learning about the
American Revolution. She decides to show
multiple clips from The Patriot and have the
children create a Venn diagram of view points of
the revolutionists and the loyalists. Some of the
clips are long and Johnnie, who is passing by,
comes in the class to watch. Johnnie is not in US
History but has never seen The Patriot.

Is Ms. Ford protected?
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Answer NO

Although the video clips are longer than 3 minutes,
Ms. Ford legally acquired the video and the clips are
being used are non-continuous and for educational
purposes not student entertainment.

However Johnnie was not enrolled in her class and
thus violates the fair use of videos in her class.

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Copyright laws, when applied to the general
public, are rigid. When applied to teachers, it
allows for greater exceptions. When applied to
students, it allows for even greater leniency.

Always be sure that what is being shown does not
violate copyright laws.
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1. Library of Congress. (October 5, 2012).
Copyright. In United States Copyright Office.
Retrieved October 17, 2012, from
http://www.copyright.gov/.
2. Library of Congress. (October 5, 2012).
Copyright. In United States Copyright Office.
Retrieved October 17, 2012, from
http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html
3. University of Northwestern Iowa. (2010-2012).
Video/DVD Reserve Copyright Guidelines. In Rod
Library. Retrieved October 16, 2012, from
http://www.library.uni.edu/copyright-
policies/video/dvd-reserve-copyright-guidelines.