Copyright Issues in Teaching with Technology

Multimedia
The display of a multimedia program in a classroom as part of an educational activity is clearly permitted by Section 110. However, incorporation of copyrighted materials in the development of a multimedia work presents an extraordinarily complex set of issues. Some of these concerns were addressed in the Fair Use Guidelines for Educational Multimedia completed in 1996 as part of the CONFU process and the subject of a Nonlegislative Report adopted by the U.S. House of Representatives. The multimedia guidelines thus have been accepted by Congress and the U.S. Copyright Office but were not endorsed by CONFU and have been vigorously opposed by some higher education and academic library organizations as too restrictive.

Briefly, the guidelines permit student and faculty use of copyrighted materials in multimedia productions for face-to-face instruction, independent learning settings, presentation at peer conferences, and retention in professional portfolios with the following limitations:

• Permission from the copyright holder(s) must be obtained for use following a two year period beginning with the first instructional use.
• No more than 10 percent or 3 minutes, whichever is less, in the aggregate of a copyrighted motion media work (e.g., video or film) may be used.
• No more than 10 percent or 1,000 words, whichever is less, may be used in the aggregate of a copyrighted work consisting of text material.
• No more than 10 percent or 30 seconds, whichever is less, of the music and lyrics from an individual musical work may be used.
• No more than five photographs or illustrations by a single artist or photographer may be incorporated.
• No more than two copies of the completed production may be made for student or faculty use, with a third copy permitted for the purposes of preservation and reproduction to replace damaged, lost, or stolen copies.

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