Re: fair use of videotapes

One consideration that has been missing in this discussion of whether excerpting sections of videotapes from the whole, legitimate copies owned by the user/institution is "fair use," is whether the use is "spontaneous" in nature. This criterion isn't in the text of the law itself, but does show up in legal glosses that have related to it. In light of this criterion, one might feel more justified to do the excerpting for nonprofit, educational purposes the first time... but if the intention is to make a permanent compilation of segments for convenience's sake, by next time/ next semester, permission should have been sought. If you can't get anyone to pay attention to your permission request, that's another matter. But it seems to me the attempt should be made, since fair use is no longer based on a relatively "spontaneous" action.

Jeff Clark
James Madison Univ. Received on Mon Oct 04 1993 - 19:17:31 GMT