Since at least 1908, placing notices on a copyrighted work that have
the effect of enlarging the scope of the copyright beyond the
statutory limits is of no legal effect at all, according to the
Supreme Court. It may well be that the DVD was properly labeled
according to German or EU law, where, for example, the copyright
owner retains the exclusive right to prohibit rental even of copies
it no longer owns, but in the U.S., owners of lawfully made copies
have an affirmative statutory right to rent them over the copyright
owner's objection. The same should hold for fair use when it comes to
public performances.
John
On Nov 14, 2006, at 5:55 PM, Wald, Joanne ((ESC)) wrote:
> [I apologize if this is a double post; I got a “refused” message
> when I tried earlier]
>
>
>
> I work for a large school district. Recently, one of the schools I
> support purchased a DVD that was produced in Germany. The following
> disclaimer is printed on the back of the DVD case:
>
>
>
> “This commercial DVD is protected by copyrights and trademarks. It
> has only been released for private use. Any other use, in
> particular for commercial rental, broadcasting, public showing (or
> any other kind of presentation, e.g. in school and universities as
> well), duplication or re-recording and by any other process, by
> which the DVD could be made accessible to the public (or via the
> Internet or other online systems) is strictly prohibited without
> the prior written consent of the copyright owner(s). Offenders
> will be prosecuted and then sued for damage incurred. Any damage,
> charges or reprints of this title will be prosecuted as forgery.”
>
>
>
> My question is about the prohibition against showing the DVD in a
> school or university. Could that be upheld legally? My
> understanding of the Berne Convention is that U.S. Copyright Laws
> would apply; therefore, couldn’t a teacher show it in class if the
> use satisfied the requirements of the Fair Use guidelines?
>
>
>
> Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
>
>
>
> Joanne Wald
>
> ISD 279 / Maple Grove Minnesota
>
>
Received on Wed Nov 15 2006 - 21:30:00 GMT
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.2.0 : Mon Mar 26 2007 - 00:35:57 GMT