0.3 Free but not fair uses

Chapter 3: Free but not Fair Uses

Daniel was concerned about his work as a volunteer in his 8 ^th -grade son’s middle school. He was used to making loads of copies; in fact, making copies was one of his primary tasks. However, this week he was asked to copy two chapters from a textbook not used by the school – and then to make 50 copies of each chapter. He also noticed a sticker on the textbook, indicating that it had been given to the teacher as a “review copy only”. The teacher had said that this textbook covered some issues not touched on by the one adopted by the school district. Daniel shrugged to himself and figured it was an educational purpose; that was Fair, wasn’t it?

After studying this chapter, you will be able to answer :

I. What is “educational use”?

II. What is a Creative Commons license?

III. What is the Idea/Expression Dichotomy?

IV. What is the Doctrine of First Sale?

V. What other uses are not infringing?

• What is “educational use” and how does it differ from Fair Use?

Many Educational uses are covered by §110 of the Copyright Act, in addition to Fair Use. Educational uses are described in §110 as:

Notwithstanding the provisions of section 106 , 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…

There is probably no simpler way to say this: performance or display of a work, in a classroom at a nonprofit school, is not an infringement of copyright.

However, the section goes on to specify some particulars that must be met:

-The copy must be legally acquired

-It must be directly related to the teaching of the class

-Only members of the class may view the content

-The school must educate both students and employees about copyright law in order to encourage compliance

-The content shown must include a copyright notice.

Section 110 contains a variety of other situations in which copyrighted works may be displayed or performed, but these portions are the ones most relevant to typical in-the-classroom teaching. So long as the above guidelines are followed, a teacher or school does not have to secure permission to use a copyrighted work in class.

Students enrolled in a class at an accredited, non-profit institution may make use of copyrighted materials to fulfill class assignments. Those assignments may be displayed to the class members but, technically, to no one else. (U.S. Copyright Office)

• What is a Creative Commons license?

Creative Commons is an organization started in 2002 by then-Stanford Law professor Lawrence Lessig. It provides licenses for people who wish to share their creations without charge, but without giving up all of their rights as copyright owners. There are four basic rights that can be reserved by Creative Commons licenses, and they can be applied in almost any combination.