Re: Re: Lectures

From: Steven Jamar <sjamar[_at_]law.howard.edu>
Date: Fri, 15 Apr 2005 13:35:00 -0400

On Thursday, April 14, 2005, at 06:35 PM, Sheldon Halpern wrote:

> I think the question and this answer miss the point. If the lecture is 
> not read from prepared matter, it is simply not copyrightable; it is 
> not a work fixed in a tangible medium of expression by or under the 
> authority of the author. The lecturer, creating an unfixed work, does 
> not have a copyright interest; the college, of course, is not the 
> author and therefore it has no copyright interest.

This is incorrect, I think. If the work is being videotaped by the college with the consent of the lecturer, that is most likely "under the authority of the author." If it is not being done under the authority of the author, then the taping itself is infringing if, as is typical for these things, the lecture is largely fixed (given from prepared notes). The scope of just what "under the authority of the author" means is not fully clear in this setting.

> At 05:30 PM 4/14/2005, you wrote:

>> I would think that if the lecturer signs a release to the college,
>> allowing them to repurpose the presentation into video and agrees to
>> the
>> intended use (current and futuristically speaking) by the college,
>> there's no infringement. In saying this, however, it would seem that
>> if the lecturer is not only presenting verbally, but also giving a
>> powerpoint presentation and that, too, is videotaped, any consent the
>> lecturer gives would not cover any third party material contained
>> within
>> the powerpoint presentation unless the lecturer has obtained the
>> appropriate permission to transfer those rights.

-- 
Prof. Steven D. Jamar                               vox:  202-806-8017
Howard University School of Law                     fax:  202-806-8567
2900 Van Ness Street NW                   mailto:sjamar[_at_]law.howard.edu
Washington, DC  20008   http://www.law.howard.edu/faculty/pages/jamar/

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more 
violent.  It takes a touch of genius - and a lot of courage - to move 
in the opposite direction."

Albert Einstein

Received on Fri Apr 15 2005 - 21:35:00 GMT