I find this very interesting: "The core issue remains the claim that in essence 'fair use' is whatever the institution decides it is and that any use they accept is 'transformative'." Who has ever claimed this? The new guidelines certainly don't. These guidelines are not legislation; they are advice from one or two professional group to members of that profession charged with making intelligent risk/reward decisions, and who are trying to manage risks related to using copyrighted materials in an academic context.
Ms. Rosner frequently laments about the issue of "how much" of a film may be legally used under fair use, and implies that the law prohibits using the entire work under any conceivable fair use scenario. This is simply not true, and, as Michael Brewer points out, list readers should not be misled by one member repeating an erroneous assertion over and over, hoping that the repetition will make it true. The fair use exemption clearly states that the amount used is one factor out of four. Not the most important factor, not the only factor, not a factor that trumps all other factors, not a factor that needs to be determined in advance of proceeding farther with the other factors. One equal factor out of four. And the ARL guidelines merely state that using the entire work is not an automatic disqualification from fair use consideration. See the FAQ here: http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/libraries/faq-librarians#wholething. It's really a rather non-controversial assertion if you read the text of the law. Terry Terry Simpkins Director, Research and Collection Services Library & Information Services Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT 05753 (802) 443-5045 -----Original Message----- From: videolib-boun...@lists.berkeley.edu [mailto:videolib-boun...@lists.berkeley.edu] On Behalf Of Jessica Rosner Sent: Monday, February 06, 2012 3:51 PM To: videolib@lists.berkeley.edu Subject: Re: [Videolib] ACRL Best Practices I am afraid the focus on feature films is my fault Bob. I will be honest, I focus on features because to me it makes it even clearer that the people pushing the "best practices" and other similar views on "fair use" (and that there is no limit to amount you can use) often want to justify streaming of entire films without any regard to rights and use. The term "educational " film really does not have any legal meaning however in the case of the TEACH ACT ( which I believe is the only area where this applies) films made exclusively for instruction are an exempt class but then so are all fiction films. In terms of the financial damage one could argue that the streaming a more costly "educational" film might be more damaging than a standard feature film, but I rather doubt it. The core issue remains the claim that in essence "fair use" is whatever the institution decides it is and that any use they accept is "tranformative" . On Mon, Feb 6, 2012 at 3:28 PM, Bob Norris <b...@filmideas.com> wrote: > This may seem like a naive question, but is all the focus on theatrical > because it is assumed that a program from an educational distributor would > not qualify under fair use because of the adverse affect upon the potential > market for or value of the copyrighted work? And if this is true, would that > extend to segments of a program if the distributors sells digital segments > of the program? > > I think Film Ideas would be willing to agree its license agreements shall > not supersede the rights already granted to users under copyright law. > Although, if we cannot agree on what the law states, I'm not sure how much > weight that statement carries. > > Bob Norris > Managing Director > Film Ideas, Inc. > Phone: (847) 419-0255 > Email: b...@filmideas.com VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of issues relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic control, preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in libraries and related institutions. It is hoped that the list will serve as an effective working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel of communication between libraries,educational institutions, and video producers and distributors.
