[Air-L] Air-L Digest, Vol 121, Issue 13

Andrea Guzman aguzma31 at uic.edu
Wed Aug 13 15:45:51 PDT 2014


Hello all,

This is a response to Shira's question: "If a YouTube video does not have
any copyright on them, would a screen shot of that video fall under fair
use for scholarly publications?"

I would say that there is not enough information to make a determination.
As someone who teaches copyright, and here I am talking about copyright in
the U.S., one misconception of copyright that I routinely encounter is
that if there is no copyright mark or claim, then there is no copyright.
This is false. Copyright attaches once a work is produced and published
regardless of whether a copyright symbol/claim accompanies it.

Now regarding Fair Use, multiple factors are weighed with one of the chief
components being how the copyright material is being used. I assume you
are using it as part of  analysis and/or commentary, and this can be
allowed under Fair Use; however, creative works also tend to have stricter
protections on them. (Insert standard disclaimer: I am not a lawyer nor do
I play one while teaching or on the AoIR listserv.)

To add to the resources already provided by others, I also suggest these
websites:

U.S. Copyright Office: http://copyright.gov
EFF's FAQ on Fair Use:
http://www.teachingcopyright.org/handout/fair-use-faq (This is more for
teaching, but it gives a general overview).

Also, for anyone who wants an interesting read on copyright gone sideways
I suggest the following: "The $8,000 Mistake that All Bloggers Should
Beware." Now this example is of a for-profit company, and not germane to
your question, but it highlights some of the misconceptions of copyright.
http://www.contentfac.com/copyright-infringement-penalties-are-scary/

Best of luck!

Andrea

-- 
Andrea L. Guzman, M.A.
PhD Candidate
Department of Communication
University of Illinois at Chicago
aguzma31 at uic.edu




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