Low Overhead

Are teachers allowed to display book charts in the classroom?

By Carrie Russell -- School Library Journal, 1/1/2006

One of our teachers would like to display statistics from David J. Smith’s If the World Were a Village on an overhead. I think it’s OK to do that. What do you think?—Kathy Moore, librarian Howard A. Eyer Middle School, Macungie, PA

Displaying a portion of a book to a class is not a copyright infringement. The law says that public displays of slides, graphs, images, and maps that are used for teaching purposes are exempt from the copyright law (Section 110[1]). In addition, if a teacher displays materials consisting solely of public domain material, such as a statistical chart of facts, she needn’t worry about violating the copyright law. Facts are not protected by copyright.

I have read some fair-use recommendations that say it’s fine to show a portion of a video labeled for “Home Use Only” in the classroom—but not the entire video. Is that true? Also, can you suggest some helpful copyright Web sites that I can share with my colleagues?—Mark A. Evans, program coordinator, K-12 technology applications, Klein Independent School District, Klein, TX

Frequently, we see a “Home Use Only” warning preceding the start of a video that has been rented or purchased from a retail store. This notice is not altogether true. It does not supersede the copyright law.

The federal copyright law protects the exclusive rights of copyright holders, but also limits those rights in certain instances. Thus, the copyright holder has the exclusive right of public performance (which means he may show a video to the public), yet users of copyrighted works can publicly perform a work under certain conditions. The legal wording that states that an entire video may be shown in the classroom is brief and not very illustrative: “The following [is not an] infringement of copyright: performance or display of a work by instructors or pupils in the course of face-to-face teaching activities…” (Section 110[1], Title 17). The complete text of the copyright law can be found at www.copyright.gov. Copyright guidelines—not the copyright law—often use quantities to describe what is fair use. This is where you have no doubt come across the “portion of a video” language.

There are many Web sites you can visit for information on copyright. Some are very good, others are misleading or, in my opinion, too prescriptive. I like a site called “Copyright Crash Course” (www.utsystem.edu/ogc/intellectualproperty/cprtindx.htm), which was created by Georgia Harper of the University of Texas.

My understanding of the TEACH Act is that it allows us to digitize our video collection. That way, we can make it available online. We’re thinking of using a system that allows only one user to access a video at a time and requires teachers to answer 10 questions to make sure they’re in compliance with the TEACH Act. Is this is an accurate interpretation of the act’s provisions?—Carol Sarath, library media coordinator, Gallup McKinley County Schools, Gallup, NM

No. I don’t think Congress intended for the law to be interpreted this broadly. Digital copies of analog works can be made (under the very rigid conditions described in Section 112) but only for the purpose of display or performance in the digital classroom at an accredited nonprofit educational institution that meets all of the requirements of the TEACH Act (Section 110[2]). In other words, a school must be TEACH compliant before a teacher can even consider transmitting an analog copy to a digital form. The 10-question checklist may be your school’s way of making sure that all of TEACH’s requirements are being met.

In addition, Section 112(2) reminds us that “the conversion of print or other analog versions of works into digital forms” is not authorized except for TEACH situations. Bottom line: you cannot convert the tapes to a digital format before your teachers need them to meet an instructional goal. A tape can be copied when—and only when—a teacher actually plans to use a digital version of it.

Author Information

Carrie Russell is the American Library Association’s copyright specialist. She will answer selected questions from readers. Send questions to slj@reedbusiness.com, with “copyright” in the subject line. Be sure to include your title and the name of your school or public library. Note: Carrie’s comments are not to be considered legal advice.

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