First THANK YOU for noting that it is "face to face" which is my favorite part of copyright law for being so detailed that permits entire films to be shown in classes and not "fair use"I don't find any ethical , legal or moral issue with buying a film at a lower price when you have no use for the added rights. I understand filmmakers in particular wanting to make as much as they can just to recoup costs but if a film is made largely for educational market then they should sell it exclusively for that and there would be no issue. Two caveats though
A distributor can at least in theory "make" institutions purchase a film at higher price but only if this is spelled out and agreed to in every sale which is not very practical but it is possible. This would make it a contract which would supersede copyright law but again in order for that to work, every individual sale would basically need a signed agreement on the exact terms not one of those "hey I noticed you bought it on Amazon at the individual price and I want you to pay institutional price. Also one more recent issue would be if you need streaming rights. These are rarely included with PPR and generally cost extra but in cases where you do need streaming rights best to ask at time of purchase and see if it works. Jessica On Mon, Jun 15, 2015 at 12:45 PM, Simpkins, Terry W. < tsimp...@middlebury.edu> wrote: > Hi Anna > > This issue crops up in various forms fairly frequently. First, however, a > minor point of clarification. Classroom screenings are actually NOT “fair > use” (17 U.S. Code § 107) <https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/107> > but rather fall under a different section of the USCode relating > limitations to exclusive rights, namely 17 U.S. Code § 110 > <https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/110>. This is actually a > good thing, in my opinion, since you do not have to apply the (notoriously, > albeit sometimes usefully, vague) “four factor” fair use test when it comes > to face-to-face classroom screenings. Section 110 does, however, outline a > variety of other conditions that need to be met, but these conditions are > pretty straightforward to interpret. > > > > As for the ethicality of doing this: why on earth would it be *unethical* > to assert rights granted to you under the law? If you want to talk about > what is or is not ethical, how about distributors who, whether through > ignorance of the law or outright deceit, attempt to coerce or scare you > into wasting your institutional resources by buying overpriced copies that > come with PPR you may not need? > > > > At Middlebury, if we need PPR, we purchase PPR. If we don’t need PPR, we > buy the lowest price copy we can legally acquire. Don’t overthink, and > stand up for rights that are yours. > > > > Regards, > > Terry > > > > *Terry Simpkins* > > Director, Discovery & Access Services > > Library & Information Services > > Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT 05753 > > (802) 443-5045 > > twsimp...@middlebury.edu > > > > > > *From:* videolib-boun...@lists.berkeley.edu [mailto: > videolib-boun...@lists.berkeley.edu] *On Behalf Of *Anna Simon > *Sent:* Monday, June 15, 2015 12:15 PM > *To:* videolib@lists.berkeley.edu > *Subject:* [Videolib] Library policy on buying institutional video copies > > > > Our library is currently re-writing its policy on buying institutional > video. Under the guidance of our copyright specialist who says that > classroom screenings fall under fair-use and do not require PPR (which are > included in most institutional prices), our new policy is to buy the > home-use copy of the DVD, if available, and not the institutional copy. Of > course if a video will be screened outside a class, say at a film festival, > we will upgrade to a PPR. > > At least one distributor has balked at this policy; another actually > suggested we purchase at the home-use price when I mentioned I couldn't > afford to buy all the videos I wanted from his company at the institutional > price. > > Legally this seems sound, but I'm still unsure about ethically. Do other > libraries have a policy on this spelled out? Do you always buy the > institutional price/PPR if available, or do you try to source the video at > the lowest possible price? If you do buy the institutional copy is it > because you feel you *should* or another reason? > > Thanks for sharing. > > [image: Library-logo-ES.png] > > *Anna Simon * > Collection, Research & Instruction Librarian > Art, Film, and Museum Studies > 202-687-7467 > ajs...@georgetown.edu > Ars Hoya: GU Art Blog <https://blogs.commons.georgetown.edu/ajs299/> > > > Georgetown University > Lauinger Library > 37th & O Sts. NW > Washington, DC 20057 > > > > 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. > > -- Jessica Rosner Media Consultant 224-545-3897 (cell) 212-627-1785 (land line) jessicapros...@gmail.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.
