Bibliography

"Social Responsibility" recognizes the importance of information and the teaching of ethical behavior to a democratic society. This series of columns will explain copyright issues to the clients of the school library media specialist: students, teachers, administrators, parents, community members.

You are a high school English teacher. It is that time of the year when your classes begin studying Shakespeare. You have a great idea: the students will read Romeo and Juliet in the original Shakespeare and then compare it to a televised version you have found advertised in your newspaper's TV guide. Your strategy is to tape the televised version and use it in class. If the lesson works out well, you decide that you will keep the tape and use it in future classes. Can you do this legally, or is there a copyright violation involved?

In 1981, Congress unofficially accepted (did not enact into law) a series of proposed guidelines for off-air taping by educators. The "Guidelines for Off-Air Recording of Broadcast Programming for Educational Purposes" have not been tested in court, nor do they have the force of law. However, they do offer educators limited access to many broadcasts under the Fair Use Guidelines.1

Below are some general provisions that pertain only to free television programs broadcast over the air. Cable programs are excluded.

* Television programs may be taped by individual teachers (at school or at home), or at teacher(s) request. For example, a teacher may ask the school library media specialist to make a specific tape.

* These programs may be used with students during a ten-day instructional period following the original taping.

* The programs may be used one time for instruction and one more time for reinforcement (for a total of two times).

* The teacher may keep the tape for up to forty-five days for the purposes of teacher evaluation and use in student assessment.

* At the end of forty-five days, the tape must be erased or destroyed. You cannot ask your best friend, grandmother, or other teachers to also tape the broadcast so that you can use it for an additional forty-five-day period. This off-air taping is a one-time privilege.

* The tape may not be edited; for example, while you do not need to use an entire off-air recording, it is not to be physically altered. You may not create a new videotape with selections from this one. If there are commercials in the tape, they must stay in. However, you can use the remote control device to cue up specific sections or bypass the commercials.

* Copying just the audio track is not permissible, as this represents a derivative copy.

* Taping is for educational use only.

* Limited copies may be made of the tape for use by teachers of other classes, but the rules above still apply.

* All such off-air taping should include the copyright notice as originally seen on the program.2

There are exceptions to the rules above. For example, if you obtain permission from the broadcast owner, you may keep and use an off-air taping as long as and in any way that he or she authorizes. In addition, many channels (especially those accessible only by cable) have their own copyright provisions that you are expected to follow. For example, "C-SPAN . . . grants educators . . . the right to tape any C-SPAN-produced program without receiving prior permission from the network, so long as the copying is for in-classroom use and not for sale, distribution, or any political purpose."3 Other stations that have their own copying regulations include public broadcasting stations, the Disney Channel, ESPN, HBO, and Showtime.4 Ask your school librarian to help you find contact information for television distributors and producers.

So, can you tape that televised version of Romeo and Juliet to use with your class? Well, the answer to that could be either yes or no. Study the guidelines above and consult with your school library media specialist.

Copyright Column Disclaimer: The information in this column is based on those interpretations of copyright law of most interest and importance to school library media specialists, teachers, and administrators. While a marked emphasis has been placed on accuracy and thoroughness, it is for information only and not to be construed as legal advice. For legal counsel, confer with a copyright lawyer.

References

References

1. Rebecca P. Butler, "Copyright As a Social Responsibility: Fair Use-I Need it Now!" Knowledge Quest 29, no.3 (Jan./Feb. 2001): 35-36

2. "Grading Teachers on Copyright Law-Videotaping for the Classroom," <www.nolo.com/encyclopedia/articles/tc/nn72.html>. Accessed 5 June 2001; Rebecca P. Butler, "Copyright and Electronic Media in K-12 Education," workshop at Improving Learning for All Students through Technology, San Marcos, Calif., Feb. 2002; Copyright Guidelines (Sarasota, Fla.: School Board of Sarasota County, 2002), 13-14; Using Copyrighted Materials in the Classroom (Tempe, Ariz.: Maricopa Center for Learning and Instruction, 1993), 7.

3. "Copyright Policy for Educators," <www.c-span.org/copyrite.html>. Accessed 11 Nov. 1997.

4. "Grading Teachers on Copyright Law"; Butler, "Copyright and Electronic Media in K-12 Education."

AuthorAffiliation

Rebecca P. Butler

[email protected]

Rebecca P. Butler is an Associate Professor in School Library Media and Instructional Technology at Northern Illinois University, DeKalb.