The fact you are a non-profit, state-run, educational entity is good,
for purposes of the fair use doctrine. But that fact alone does not
change the fundamental analysis. As a general rule, if you show a
movie on your TV station, the copyright to which belongs to someone
else, you will need to either (a) obtain a license (permission) from
the copyright owner; (b) determine that the source material is
actually not "copyrighted" and is in the public domain; or (c)
determine that your use qualifies as a "fair use" under copyright law.
Any use outside these three will expose the school and potentially
you individually to liability for copyright infringement.
Fair use contemplates that you ARE infringing copyright--the doctrine
simply gives you a defense if you get sued. Basically, you are potentially
infringing someone's copyright in any content of which the school is not the
actual author that you broadcast from your station.
Under US copyright law, the Fair Use Doctrine, found at 17 U.S.C.
Section 107, holds that no permission is needed for purposes such as
criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple
copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, SUBJECT TO THE
BELOW FACTORS:
Factors:
(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use
is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;
(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to
the copyrighted work as a whole; and
(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of
the copyrighted work.
So, to answer your question, you have to first ask if your use falls
into one of the enumerated categories [criticism, comment, news
reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use),
scholarship, or research] AND THEN you have to apply the four factors
and see if more of the factors weigh in your favor. It would be
improper to definitively opine here as to whether your use in each
case is a fair use, but as I said, the fact you are a non-profit
educational institution helps, as you can see. If I were you, I would
still try to obtain a broadcast license from the copyright owner in
every case.
So, to answer your questions, "Are we cool showing movies just to show
them? Or can we only show them for educational purposes (with a
discussion or whatever)? Can we not show them at all?", the answers
depend on the outcome of your analysis under the fair use doctrine.
For example, assume you want to arbitrarily show "Hellboy," which was
just released on DVD. So you go rent the DVD and broadcast it. Fair
use? I doubt it. Even though you are a non-profit educational
facility, you had no teaching purpose in broadcasting the movie.
Also, you very likely deprived the copyright owners of money because
when you showed it, those folks that watched it for free will not now
go have to rent it. See how it works?
The analysis is impacted by another issue: a doctrine called sovereign
immunity. Generally, state-owned entities cannot be sued unless you
first get their permission. I would have to do further research, but
the fact you are state-owned may provide additional insulation from
copyright liability under sovereign immunity. But at the end of the
day, the fundamental copyright analysis above does hold true,
sovereign immunity or not. |
