HIT: Copyright violations

[Randall Eckley <reckley@NIIA.NET>]

Here are examples of copyright violiations in which the teacher or school
got caught.  I received several messages from LM people who thought such a
list would be useful.  I also received several messages which indicated
that teachers often flaunt the copyright law and need to be educated on
this issue.  I'd like to thank everyone who took the time to contribute to
this list.

Randy Eckley
Duneland School Corp., Chesterton, IN  <reckley@niia.net>

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If teachers are ignoring the copyright law because they believe no one gets
caught, not only are they dead wrong, but they also need a lesson in ethics
and have no right holding a teaching certificate.  In most school
districts, teachers sign ethics statements and swear to uphold policies,
procedures, and laws.

The most famous case where educators got caught violating the copyright law
is the BOECS case.  A New York State school system paid $78,515.71 in
damages and fines for off-air taping of television programs. (1983)

Hope botterbusch
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I just read in Teacher about a high school in northern CA that received a
"cease and desist" letter from the Hard Rock Cafe restaurant chain for
using the "Hard Work Cafe" logo for their breakfasts to reward student
achievement. They also had had T-shirts made up with a replica of the cafe
logo saying "Hard Work Cafe." The school was North Salinas High School.

Hope this helps. I have the same problem in my school, the teachers feel I
am just being obstructive because I keep bringing up the copyright issue
and refuse to violate the law.

Ginny Konefal
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Last spring, a 2nd grade teacher put on a classroom circus researched,
acted, and produced by her own students.  They advertised it in the
school halls as The Youngest Show On Earth.  That caption was used in the
local weekly newspaper under a photo of the children in costume in the
cafeteria.

During the summer, the Principal received a letter from Ringling Bros.,
Barnum & Bailey warning politely that they would go to court if this
event were repeated.  They said that despite their support for education,
they could not permit their trademark to be used without permission.

(My attorney husband says that such an action could be easily defended
because the phrase " -est show on earth " is not in any way unusual.)

Still, the episode goes to show that the big names ARE watching, through
clipping services that harvest local papers.

Holly Wolf   Macedon Elementary School, Macedon, NY
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Someone was looking for cases of copyright violations in which the
offenders were caught, and I just ran across the ones I'm citing below.
They came from AIME.  As I recall someone on this list wanted to prove to
teachers that "someone" is watching, and that, yes, people and/or schools
do get caught.

Case 1.  University of California - Fullerton.  August 1987.

SITUATION:  A report of a possible copyright violation was received by
AIME.  After many phone calls and personal contacts a letter was sent by
AIME to the VP for Student Services asking for his assistance in putting a
stop to future violations, asking that the University formulate and
disseminate a copyright policy to all members of the University and asking
that the university take some disciplinary action.

RESULTS:  AIME received a reply from the university stating that the
individual involved and all other staff members have been provided a copy
of the Guidelines for Off-Air Recording of Broadcast Programming for
Educational Purposes and that the individual involved has agreed to comply
with the guidelines.

Case 2.  Santa Cruz County School District, California.  October 1987.

SITUATION:  A high shcool teacher allowed a former classroom aide to check
out a film under his name.  The former aide in turn loaned the film to a
personal friend who took the film to a video duplication lab and had copies
of the film made.

RESULTS:  The master and copies of the film were returned to the producer.
A memo was sent from the school administration to all AV/textbook clerks
and principals in the district reviewing checkout rules and copyright laws.
A letter of reprimand was put in the teacher's personnel file.  All schools
in the district provided inservice/awareness sessions for their teachers
and staff.  The district adopted an effective copyright policy. The lab
involved was investigated by MPAA for its part in this situation.

Case 3.  El Dorado Union School District, California.  August 1988.

SITUATION:  Programs were taped of air illegally and promoted to other
buildings in the district via catalog.

RESULTS:  The superintendent met with all librarians and principals to
ensure that district policy and lawful procedures regarding the copyright
of programs from TV were being followed, to institute corrective procedures
to review all video material, and to eliminate any which were not clearly
reproduced according to lawful procedures. The superintendent personally
conferred with each librarian about the violation and sent letters of
reprimand to those employees who were not in compliance with district
polocies, procedures, and the law related to this area.

Only those video tapes which were clearly reproduced and used in a
legal way were retained by the district.  All catalogs listing illegally
reproduced materials were removed from circulation and destroyed.
Librarians sent memos to all staff to help them understand the law
regarding the use of videotapes.  The superintendent personally visited and
inspected each library in the district to be sure that they were only in
possession of those tapes which conformed to copyright laws.

The superintendent purchased the copyright law videotape from AIME,
"Copyright Law: What Every School, College and Public Library Should Know",
to assist the district's efforts to keep staff informed about the existing
copyright laws, their importance and the legitimacy of the private sector's
concerns. An annual inservice is presented for key district people,
including reprographics personnel and librarians.  Those who violate the
policy will be subject to sanctions by the District.

Case 4.  Glenbard North High School, Illinois.  April 1989.

SITUATION:  Video programs were illegally recorded off air by teachers for
use in their classes.

RESULTS:  Glenbard North High School was forced to spend $4265 to purchase
the illegally taped 83 video programs.  The school administration has since
developed a policy and rules about the acquisition and use of videotapes.

Case 5.  Dallas County Sheriff's Office, Texas.  December 1989

SITUATION:  The Dallas County Sheriff's Office illegally duplicated
videotapes for its own office as well as other county departments,
including the Department of Health.

RESULTS:  Dallas County agreed to provide a complete accounting of
illegally duplicated videotapes, cease from further duplication unless
written permission is first obtained, terminated services regarding
copyright advice from a specific Dallas attorney, and substituted former
guidelines with new ones prepared by AIME's counsel.  They implemented the
new guidelines beginning with a copyright workshop for county employees
conducted by AIME.  As part of these guidelines, employees who violate them
in the future will face disciplinary action.

Case 6.  Norco School District, California.  April 1990.

SITUATION:  One or more teachers at the Corona-Corco Unified School
District violated copyright laws that require teachers to tape only
broadcast TV, to show the program only once within 10 school days and to
erase the tape within 45 calendar days.  Teachers also illegally copied
educational videos for their classes.

RESULTS:  After about eight months of closed-door negotiations with AIME,
the Corona-Norco school board authorized their attorneys to try to settle
the case out of court.  The settlement required the school district board
to approve a policy on copyright law and prepare a press release about the
settlement.

Case 7.  Traverse City Public Schools, Michigan.  June 1990

SITUATION:  Teachers at the Junior High School regularly and systematically
reproduced film and video products for use in their classes.

RESULTS:  Upon demand of AIME, the district investigated the matter
further, a full accounting of all illegally made tapes was made.  Employees
who participated in the illegal duplication of videos were reprimanded and
other employees were made aware of this disciplinary action.  A copyright
policy was developed and implemented.

Case 8.  Parker Unified School District #27, Arizona.  October 1990

SITUATION:  Administrative personnel in this small school district in
northern Arizona authorized and condoned the systematic illegal copying of
video tapes.

RESULTS:  All illegal copies were set aside and inventoried.  Those
employees who participated in the illegal copying were reprimanded and the
disciplinary action was made public.  The district prepared a copyright
policy and an inservice training session was held for teachers and
administrators to explain the copyright law.  On behalf of its members,
AIME received a $10,000 damage settlement from the school district.

As you can see, my files only go up through 1990.  I'm sure AIME has
listings of more recent cases. Hope this helps whoever was looking for this
information.

Kathy Graves
IMC Director/Librarian
Siskiyou Co. Supt. of Schools
Yreka, CA 96097
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I don't have any firm facts to back this up, but a fellow librarian in my
district told me that a school in Humble ISD, Texas was "caught."
Supposedly a teacher-friend of hers works there.

A parent just happened to be in the building & walking by a classroom
where they were showing a National Geographic video for fun. She WORKS
for Nat'l Geo. & promptly turned them in.

 Debbie Collier          Orange Grove Elementary
 Librarian &             Houston, Texas
 "Resourceress"
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