Re: capturing movie clips for presentations...

I realize that the Multimedia Guidelines are not law, but this use (providing the audience is at a non-profit educational institution) would easily qualify for the "less than 3 minutes or 10% whichever is less" limit. Is that not a consideration here?

Carol Simpson, Ed.D.
Asst. Professor
School of Library & Information Sciences University of North Texas
P.O. Box 311068
Denton, TX 76203
940.565.2445
940.565.3101 FAX
csimpson[_at_]lis.admin.unt.edu

>>> tochoa[_at_]LAW.WHITTIER.EDU 08/29 5:50 PM >>>
>>> Marcus & Denise Rhoades <rhoades[_at_]southwind.net> 08/10 9:15 AM >>>
CNI, What is the copyright laws regarding movie clip capturing? For example, if I'm wanting to give a presentation on Tornados and I capture a 10 second segment of "Twister" to show in my presentation, is that infringement of the copyright?

I'm not charging admission, I own a copy of the movie and it's to make a point in the presentation, is that legal? And if so, do I have to put a "disclaimer" or Studio name in one of the corners of the clip? etc.? etc.? <<<<<

Well, if the studio found out about it, they would claim it is an infringement and that the use needs to be licensed, which may be all that matters. But I would argue that they're wrong:

Under §110(1), performance of a work by instructors or pupils in the course of face-to-face teaching activity of a nonprofit educational institution, in a classroom or similar place devoted to instruction, is not an infringement, unless the performance is from a copy of a movie that was not lawfully made.

I would interpret this to mean that you must use your own lawfully purchased copy of the movie, rather than "capturing it" by means which make an additional copy. And, of course, you would have to meet the other requirements of the statute to get the exemption.

But even if you don't meet all the requirements, I would argue that your use is sufficiently analogous to be a fair use. It's a non-profit use, for face-to-face instruction; the clip is sufficiently short that it is not simply a subterfuge to evade copyright law. Unfortunately, some courts have shown a tendency to treat the §108 and §110 exemptions as the outer limit of fair use, rather than the safe harbors that they were intended to be; but I think the argument is still available.

Tyler T. Ochoa
Associate Professor
Whittier Law School Received on Thu Aug 31 2000 - 15:43:10 GMT