Today we're going to talk about the classroom exception for face-to-face instruction. This is the exception that allows us to do things like, for example, show a movie in class, read a poem in class, perform a play in class. Things that educators do in the classroom all the time. This exception is in section 110(1) of the US copyright law, and it allows us to do these sorts of things in the classroom without the performances being an infringement. Previously, we talked about how one of the exclusive rights of the copyright owner is the exclusive right to public performance. However, for public policy reasons, we also like to favor educational uses, and so the copyright law carves out some exceptions for educational purposes, and this is one of them. >> I think this is one of the exceptions in copyright law that teachers rely on regularly. >> Mm. >> Without really understanding that they're relying on Section 110(1). >> Right, right. >> But let's walk through exactly how 110(1) works so that we have a good common understanding of it. So, you have a handout, that you can print out if you would like, but we are going to walk through the text of the law. So, you don't need to print it out if you haven't already. So let's start really with the fundamental concept in section 110(1). We're going through it con concept by concept. So, let's begin with the fundamental concept in 110(1). The following are not an infringement of copyrights if you follow the provisions in section 110(1). In our framework for analyzing a copyright problem, this falls under the second question, is there a specific exception in copyright law that covers my use? For the classroom exception to apply, it covers the display or performance of a work, and here a work is any kind of copyrighted work including but not limited to poetry, films, images, et cetera. As Ann already mentioned, this is the exception that teachers rely on to show films and images and other things in the classroom all of the time. The display is by either instructors or pupils, so it covers both teachers and students, whether it's reading a play, acting out a poem, et cetera. It happens in the course of face-to-face teaching activities of a nonprofit educational institution, so it is limited to face-to-face instruction and to non profit educational institutions. Online instruction is included in another exception, which is section 110(2) that we're going to be covering in another lecture. Also, note that for profit education is not included in this particular exception in copyright law. It also covers things that happen in a classroom or a similar place devoted to instruction. This is often interpreted to include rooms like in libraries and other places in the school that may not be traditional classrooms, but when used as classrooms are places devoted to instruction. >> There's a carve-out in the exception. If you are showing a motion picture or other audiovisual work or displaying images, the work must be lawfully made. If the work wasn't lawfully made, the person using the work had to know or have reason to believe it wasn't lawfully made. So this carve-out means that a work wouldn't fall under this exception if it was bootlegged or counterfeit or something like that. Lisa, have you ever had an, a case where someone was asking about that? >> Actually I have, where someone had a VHS tape that they acquired under suspicious circumstances. >> Mm-hm, yes. >> So whether or not it was lawfully made was in question. It wasn't like that they bought it out of the back of somebody's van but they still really didn't know that the origins of it actually could be traced back to an authorized copy by the copyright owner. >> Yes, I had a similar situation where someone wanted to use something that they had gotten off a fan website and it was pretty obvious that their, the copyright holders had had nothing to do with the making or the distribution of the- >> Of that. >> Of the film, yeah. And the person who wanted to show it said, well, I didn't bootleg it. And I said, well, you still can't show it under Section 110(1) [LAUGH]. >> [LAUGH] Yeah. >> So as we noted before, the classroom exception is really used heavily by educators, and a lot of times people don't even realize it, you know. People show movies in class frequently and never say to themselves when they start the movie, I'm using 110(1). They, they just do it as part of their regular activities. Sometimes questions arise about either recording material, in class, and for lighter use in some way. And 110(1) really doesn't, doesn't cover that. >> No, it doesn't. >> Do, do you have situations where that comes up for you a lot? That does come up and it's really a set, quite frankly, of policy questions. >> Mm-hm. >> Because it isn't covered in copyright law. So really it's a set of questions around, you know, who owns the recording, who owns the copyright and the recording. Is it the school, is it the instructor, is it both in some instances? Do the store, students know that they're being recorded? If the students are minors, do the parents know that the students are being recorded? And if the class recording includes a performance of these copyrighted works, then, there's questions that arise if you want to make the recording available on the web for example. Because that distribution would no longer fall under section 110(1) either. >> And also a lot of times I deal with situations where people want to do lecture capture, use it over and over again, distribute it and maybe on mobile devices. And all of these things may or may not be fair use but they aren't 110(1). >> Right. >> Activities that's for sure. >> Well, there's also policy questions that come up when recording student musical or dramatic performances. Where you've got either a musical that's being done or a play that's being performed, and often teachers will want to record these student performances. So in that case, it's also really a best practice to get the permission from the student or parent if the student is a minor to make the recording of the performance. If you're distributing the performance again it's the same set of questions. You may need public performance rights for the music, or for the copyrighted works if it's dramatic because really you're no longer falling under this 110(1) classroom exception. >> Yeah, a lot of times you're into a situation where you, you have a, a license, terms that you have to comply with. For example, a lot of times if you get a license to perform a musical you may be able to make a video for a short time, but not for the long term. So it's a good idea to read the fine print in those situations. >> The other question that comes up is reserve readings, and I'm sure you've gotten this question. >> Yeah. >> Where, reserve readings really never were, intended to happen in the classroom. Reserve readings, really, intentionally happen outside of the classroom. So, reserve readings may very well be a fair use, and we are going to cover fair use, later, but it doesn't, fall under the face-to-face teaching, that is section 110(1). >> Right and it, and this is a situation where a lot of the teaching practice has gotten ahead of what the law has codified, and, so we're, we're playing catch up a lot of the time. >> Yeah. So let's kind of just review our takeaways, shall we? So when you're applying this, the framework for copyright analysis, you would want to ask the question, is there a specific exception in copyright law that covers my use? If your use is in face-to-face instruction at a non-profit educational institution, the work is lawfully made, or you have no reason to believe it wasn't lawfully made, then you may very well be falling under section 110(1). But as we mentioned really teachers rely on section 110(1) all of the time without understanding that there is this specific exception in copyright law that was intended just for them. >> Right. >> [INAUDIBLE]. >> So, thanks for your attention. You have taken one more step on the journey to becoming a copyright maven.
