Re: distance learning question

From: Melissa Levine <mele[_at_]loc.gov>
Date: Thu, 31 Oct 1996 14:57:01 -0500

On 10/30/96, Harold Federow <hfederow[_at_]u.washington.edu> wrote:
>
> On Wed, 30 Oct 1996, Susan M. Zvacek wrote:
>>
>> I'm trying to figure out if we're covered by Fair Use at my
>> university ...
>>
>> A faculty member who will be teaching an art history class would
>> like to display slides of paintings -- not an unusual teaching
>> strategy -- and has many trays of slides to last the semester.
>>
>> Question: When we transmit this class out by digital satellite
>> signal (receivable at our 20+ classroom sites around the state, but
>> not considered an open broadcast) do we need to get some kind of
>> permission from (someone?)? These slides are of paintings that have
>> been reproduced in books all over the world, there would not be any
>> threat to a commercial market, they would be used strictly in a
>> classroom teaching situation. BUT, does this consitute a
>> "distribution" or "reproduction" in the eyes of the law?
>>
>> Help!
>>
>> Some days it just isn't worth chewing through the restraints ...
>
> I don't see any difference, just the number of students. Fair use is
> almost certainly applicable.
>
> Harold Federow
> <hfederow[_at_]u.washington.edu>

I come to a different conclusion:

This is almost certainly a distribution and reproduction. And it seems conclusory to assume that digital dissemination of these slides would not be a threat to the commercial market for reproductions of these images. I would make a good faith effort in ascertaining any rights holders, document your efforts, and make a risk judgement about items for which your research is unsatisfactory. Where were the slides from in the first place? Who made them? Are there images available for license (particularly if the use is anticipated to be ongoing)? The nature of the use as "educational" may be fair, but dissemination in digital form changes the balance of the other Fair Use factors considerably. It isn't just a matter of the number of students that is at issue, and the use described here is not spontaneous.

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Melissa Smith Levine
Legal Advisor, National Digital Library Project Library of Congress
Washington, D.C. 20540-1300
ph. 202-707-1783
fax 202-707-0815
mele[_at_]loc.gov

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Received on Thu Oct 31 1996 - 20:03:42 GMT