We all know how great it is when a teacher puts in a movie for class instead of teaching. A free movie during school - what's not to like? But imagine a world in which we would have to pay royalties for watching these movies.
Ridiculous, you say?
That is what the Motion Picture Licensing Corp., which collects royalties for big companies such as Disney and 20th Century Fox, is requiring of every school that uses DVDs owned by these companies.
This raises the question: When can instructors legally show movies in classrooms without paying royalties or violating copyright laws?
"The teacher must use a lawfully made copy of the material," said Robert Denicola, a professor of law at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He said teachers should be careful when showing clips from Web sites such as YouTube to a class, as these could easily be in violation of the Copyright Act.
Denicola also said the video may be used only for academic purposes, whether it is a lawful copy or not.
"If a teacher is just using it to keep kids quiet, it is a different story."
The laws that educators must abide by are outlined in Section 107 of the Copyright Act, which presents guidelines of the fair use doctrine. Determining what is fair use and what isn't is determined on a casy-by-case basis.
The doctrine is very "open ended," Denicola said, as it is made up of a collaboration of past court case decisions.
A further example: If a philosophy instructor has his or her class watch "The Matrix" to explore the argument of whether or not the external world we know is real, it is fair game. However, if instructors put in the movie after a test for the students to watch while he or she catches up on grading, the professor is infringing on federal copyright laws.
"We have not formally told teachers of the copyright laws they need to follow, but we have an expectation that they know and understand these laws," said Robert Slauson, principal of Lincoln Southwest High School.
If a teacher was found showing a film for non-academic purposes, Slauson said, this would not only violate copyright laws, but, more importantly, suggest that the teacher does not meet ethical standards to which Slauson expects of his faculty.
Slauson said he and the LSW administration regularly perform walk-throughs of classes to be sure these standards are met.
Rick Endacott, an associate professor at the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film, who produces his own projects, said while he does not object to instructors using anything he has produced, he believes they need to be aware of their limitations.
"In this day and age, I do think that every instructor needs to use the media to teach," Endacott said. "Given that thought, every teacher needs a basic understanding of how they can avoid copyright infringements."
natepetro@dailynebraskan.com
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