Many school teachers, in order to make their lessons more interesting and enhance student enthusiasm for learning, go to video rental stores to rent films related to their teaching content or directly purchase DVDs or VCDs from bookstores to show in the classroom. They may even gather students from several classes to watch and discuss the films afterward. Does this usage qualify as fair use? Are there any safer ways to utilize others' audiovisual works?
Regarding the fair use of others' works in teaching, Article 46 of our Copyright Law states: 'I. Schools established in accordance with the law and their teaching personnel may reproduce publicly published works of others within a reasonable scope for the needs of teaching. II. The proviso in Article 44 applies similarly to the preceding item.' Schools or teachers may reproduce publicly published works of others for teaching needs within a reasonable scope, as long as it meets the aforementioned conditions, without needing prior consent from the copyright owner. However, screening films in the classroom does not constitute 'reproduction'; it is considered a public performance to a specific audience (the public), which falls under the scope of 'public exhibition rights' protected by copyright law. Therefore, fair use cannot be claimed under Article 46, and other fair use provisions must be sought.
When referring to the fair use provisions for public exhibitions, they are primarily based on Article 55 of the Copyright Law, which states: 'For non-profit purposes, without directly or indirectly charging any fees from the audience or listeners, and without compensating the performers, one may publicly recite, broadcast, screen, or perform publicly published works of others during activities.' The conditions to determine whether this article is applicable include: 1. It must be 'non-profit'; 2. There must be 'no fees charged directly or indirectly from the audience or listeners'; 3. There must be 'no compensation paid to the performers'; 4. It must be publicly published works; 5. It must occur in a 'specific activity.' If a teacher has an urgent need to publicly screen audiovisual works due to special events or teaching requirements, and meets the aforementioned criteria, fair use can be claimed under this article. However, if the films chosen by the teacher are not closely related to the teaching activities and are more 'recreational' or 'entertaining' in nature, they could potentially be deemed to have a 'market substitution' effect under Article 65, Paragraph 2 of the Copyright Law, which may still infringe upon public exhibition rights and should be approached with caution.
For school teachers needing to use audiovisual works for teaching purposes, and due to the involvement of 'public exhibition rights,' I have the following suggestions:
蘊藏許多助人的知識與智慧。