Magazines and books classroom video copyright? at DVinfo.net

Peter Dunphy · February 8th, 2009, 06:40 PM

Hi guys

I'm shooting a promotional video for a school - some shots are in classrooms where the children will be using books and magazines. Some of the published materials state that they are free to be copied for educational purposes. Others state that they cannot be copied without the consent of the publisher.

Where do I stand with this do you think? Do I need to obtain consent from the publisher of every single book that features, even in the background, in the classroom shots?

Any advice really appreciated.

All the best

Peter

Tripp Woelfel · February 8th, 2009, 06:57 PM

Virtually every thread like this ends up concluding that the only real way to assure you remain within the confines of the law is a consultation with an attorney.

I thought I'd skip ahead.

Peter Dunphy · February 9th, 2009, 04:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tripp Woelfel

Virtually every thread like this ends up concluding that the only real way to assure you remain within the confines of the law is a consultation with an attorney.

I thought I'd skip ahead.

Tripp thanks very much - yep I guess the best bet would be for the school's own legal team to look into it.

Gordon P. Firemark · February 9th, 2009, 09:15 PM

You're not copying the books... you're merely SHOWING them in your film/video. This is NOT copyright infringement, and shouldn't present any significant problems.

Were you actually photographing the pages of the books or magazines, it'd be a different story.

And yes, you SHOULD consult an attorney

Adam Grunseth · March 7th, 2009, 02:45 AM

I worked for an organization once who's lawyers drew up guidelines for exactly this sort of thing. It was a list that told us the maximum amount of the frame that could be filled with different things, for example a trademarked logo on something we were shooting couldn't fill more then 10% of the screen, or if we were shooting a television it's screen couldn't fill more then 25% of the frame. Book covers and pages from a book were one of the items on the list. Once again though this was the opinion of these lawyers and what they thought would be defensible if we did get sued.

I also had a friend who did a similar type project, involving a promo video in a classroom with textbooks. To be safe he had book covers made up that were used on each and every book so you could not see the book's actual cover in his video.

February 8th, 2009, 06:40 PM	#1
Peter Dunphy Major Player Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Belfast Northern Ireland Posts: 261	Magazines and books classroom video copyright? Hi guys I'm shooting a promotional video for a school - some shots are in classrooms where the children will be using books and magazines. Some of the published materials state that they are free to be copied for educational purposes. Others state that they cannot be copied without the consent of the publisher. Where do I stand with this do you think? Do I need to obtain consent from the publisher of every single book that features, even in the background, in the classroom shots? Any advice really appreciated. All the best Peter

March 7th, 2009, 02:45 AM	#5
Adam Grunseth Major Player Join Date: May 2005 Location: Eugene Oregon Posts: 393	Books I worked for an organization once who's lawyers drew up guidelines for exactly this sort of thing. It was a list that told us the maximum amount of the frame that could be filled with different things, for example a trademarked logo on something we were shooting couldn't fill more then 10% of the screen, or if we were shooting a television it's screen couldn't fill more then 25% of the frame. Book covers and pages from a book were one of the items on the list. Once again though this was the opinion of these lawyers and what they thought would be defensible if we did get sued. I also had a friend who did a similar type project, involving a promo video in a classroom with textbooks. To be safe he had book covers made up that were used on each and every book so you could not see the book's actual cover in his video.

February 8th, 2009, 06:57 PM	#2
Tripp Woelfel Trustee Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: North Conway, NH Posts: 1,745	Virtually every thread like this ends up concluding that the only real way to assure you remain within the confines of the law is a consultation with an attorney. I thought I'd skip ahead.

February 9th, 2009, 09:15 PM	#4
Gordon P. Firemark New Boot Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Los Angeles, CA 90024 Posts: 12	You're not copying the books... you're merely SHOWING them in your film/video. This is NOT copyright infringement, and shouldn't present any significant problems. Were you actually photographing the pages of the books or magazines, it'd be a different story. And yes, you SHOULD consult an attorney