October 2003 — Industry Perspective
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Are You Breaking the Law?
Copyright Guidelines for Video Streaming and Digital Video in the Classroom
Editors' note: The information contained in this article is not legal advice. You should consult your school district's attorney if you have legal questions that relate to the issues addressed in this article.
A recent Quality Education Data (QED) study showed that video streaming is the No. 1 technology being evaluated by educators this fall. But, with this new technology comes the responsibility of educating teachers about copyright laws related to the use of video in the classroom. While the benefits of video streaming in the classroom mean more flexibility for teachers, it can also entail more challenges for administrators to protect their schools from copyright infringement.
Are your teachers following the Fair Use Guidelines, the TEACH Act, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and, most importantly, the subscription licenses you hold? In the past, businesses have held school districts accountable for their employees' actions, so it is important to know about copyrights for digital video use in the classroom. This article will provide some understanding of how copyright laws affect you and your schools. Interpretations of existing copyright laws as they pertain to digital educational video will be provided, as well as additional resources to educate your staff and students on copyright requirements.
End-User Licenses
While we as technology coordinators, librarians, media specialists, staff developers and administrators are not necessarily accountable for the copyright infringements of our colleagues, we are regarded as the copyright experts. First and foremost, it is important to read your vendor license agreements, because every license is written with a unique set of rules that end users must follow. This license is a binding contract between your school and the copyright owner. Most importantly, the license may override existing copyright laws.
Vendors, who may or may not be the copyright owner, consider the needs of all parties when writing license agreements. They take into account teachers', students' and the copyright owners' needs and concerns, as well as the copyright laws. For example, some video streaming licenses ask that end users maintain the intent of the videos; therefore, no video editing software can be used. However, end users may freeze-frame a video and use the frame for instructional purposes in the classroom, while in some cases displaying the video content on the Internet is acceptable as long as the Web site is protected via firewall, realm, or user name and password.
'Fair Use' Guidelines
According to Simonson, Smaldino, Albright and Zvacek (2003), one of the myths concerning copyright is that "the doctrine of Fair Use means that copyrighted materials can be used in an educational setting without permission." Unfortunately, ignorance is not bliss when it concerns copyright. How many times have you heard fellow educators discuss copying and sharing print materials, videotapes, audiotapes, software and downloaded materials? Perhaps they show videotapes to their class on Friday afternoons as a performance reward or copy videotape clips to a CD to use as a curriculum enhancement. Even when used under the guise of education, these activities may violate the copyright law.
