Semioclast

In the wake of the DMCA and its triennial exemptions (the most recent of which allows educators to break CSS encryption on DVDs to make clips for students, among other allowances), clarity on intellectual property issues escapes many academics who feel that, in their classrooms at least, anything goes when it comes to “fair use.”

Well, SCMS released their long-awaited statement on fair use in film and media studies yesterday. This foray into the increasingly murky waters of fair use (or, what Lessig calls, “uses that trigger the law of copyright, but which are nonetheless free because the law deems them ‘fair’ — such as copying words from a book in a review of the book“) has been a long time coming and will, hopefully, do more than just clarify the organization’s position on the matter.

The Society for Cinema and Media Studies (SCMS) strongly supports the attempt to define the fair use of visual and aural materials by film and videomakers, educators, programmers and curators, and other film and media practitioners. As a scholarly organization with an ongoing interest in advising its members and constituents on the considerable ambiguity regarding fair use practice and its possible ensuing consequences, SCMS supports the principle of clarifying the legal, ethical, and practical implications of the fair use of visual and aural materials. To this end, SCMS has constituted a committee on public policy, which has been charged with developing a stance on fair use practice, among other policy matters. SCMS seeks to work with other organizations to develop a comprehensive policy stance regarding the fair use of visual and aural materials.

SCMS’ “Best Practices for Fair Use in Teaching” (PDF!) is geared towards all educators, but attempts to clarify issues that are especially pressing for those who are teaching online. I found it most interesting that, while fair use is fairly understandable in the physical classroom, online the distinctions get much more troublesome. For example, if I show a film as part of my class during in-class time, I’m fine. However, if I rip the whole film and put it on my Blackboard site things get problematic. This is despite the fact that Blackboard has a notoriously closed architecture that limits access to course materials.

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