Film & Video Answers

Answer 1

FALSE!

The copy was unlawfully made. In order to adhere to the copyright law, all items below, from Sec. 110 of the Copyright Law, must be followed:

• public showing is by instructors or pupils
• class is part of a regular curriculum
• it is face-to-face teaching
• the entire audience is in the teaching activity
• the entire audience is in the same room
• teaching activities are by a non-profit educational institution
• the performance is in an educational setting
• the tape has been lawfully made

Answer 2

TRUE!

If the showing is open to the public it is considered a performance and copyright permission or licensing must be obtained to have the showing. This applies even if admission fees are not charged. The group does not consist of class members, nor is it engaged in formal instruction, so the group must obtain copyright permission.

Answer 3

FALSE!

This is infringement. Some companies have a duplicate pricing structure where the higher price is for the purchase of one videotape and the right to produce a specific number of duplicate copies. Copying to change format (for example, copying from VHS to DVD) is also an infringement of copyright.

Answer 4

TRUE!

Public domain materials may be legally copied or transferred from one format to another if:

• the copyright has expired
• no portion of the work has been copyrighted separately (for example, a musical score)
• the version to be copied is the original