Books, Tapes, and DVDs

When is it legal to make copies—and when isn't it?

By Carrie Russell -- School Library Journal, 8/1/2005

One of our instructors has asked the library staff to copy an entire book. He would like to take portions of the copied text and distribute them to his students. What does the copyright law have to say about this?
—Glen Walder, library media teacher Dublin (CA) High School

Unless the book in question is in the public domain, this is an infringement of copyright. My assumption is that the teacher is trying to avoid having the library, school, or students purchase the book as a course text.

Some of our teachers have asked me to videotape TV programs, such as “Cable in the Classroom” programs and film versions of books that are being read in the classroom. I know the law says we are only allowed to use these materials for 45 days. But what if these programs can't be purchased from any other source? Am I allowed to keep using the tapes? Some of the programs I have taped are right in line with the curriculum and have been very useful to our teachers.
—Lizanne Wallace, librarian St. Francis de sales Catholic School, Salisbury, MD

According to the “Guidelines for Off-Air Recording,” you must erase the tapes after 45 days. However, the guidelines are an agreement among a number of stakeholders—in this case, 19 copyright holders and educational users—stating what they considered to be a fair use of broadcast programming. The guidelines are not the law. On the other hand, many librarians rely on them as the basis for their institutional copyright policies.

Since the videotaped programs are meaningful for the curriculum, I would suggest that you further investigate whether they can be purchased. A mainstream video distributor may not sell them, but perhaps the programs' producers can be contacted. If you're able to locate a copyright holder, he might be willing to license to you the right to make and retain your video copy.

Unfortunately, many titles like this fall into the category now known as “orphan works.” These are works whose copyright holders cannot be found, even after a reasonable search. Can you use an orphan work without worrying about breaking the law? Nobody knows for sure. Currently, the U.S. Copyright Office is conducting a study on orphan works. It may recommend that copyright law be amended to allow some latitude for using orphan works without prior authorization. We'll know more at the end of the year, when the Office issues its report.

If you search high and low and cannot find the copyright holder, then it's time to see if fair use applies to your situation. My opinion is that the case for fair use is pretty strong, especially if the tape is used strictly for classroom purposes. Another option might be to purchase a similar title that meets the teaching objective.

We are revising a booklet that one of our staff members wrote about the Revolutionary War. We would like to put its contents on our Web site so visitors can download or print it. The booklet includes two drawings that appeared in a Senate document that was printed by the U.S. Government Printing Office in 1931. Since these images are from a government document, do we need to get permission to reprint them?
—Nancy M. Miller, collection development librarian Virginia Beach (VA) Public Library

No. Government documents are in the public domain. But it's always wise to check documents thoroughly. Some are protected by copyright. You will find a copyright notice on most documents indicating their status.

Several of our DVDs have been returned damaged. As a safeguard, are we allowed to make copies of the original DVDs, circulate the copies, and keep the originals in storage?
—Carol Burns, media specialist Parma City (OH) Schools

No. Section 108 (reproduction by libraries) does not apply. Since the DVDs are readily available in the marketplace for a reasonable price, there's no case for a fair-use exemption.

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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