Muddy Concepts

This week I am writing on “muddy” concepts to which I have been exposed this week.  I had several candidates I was relatively enthusiastic about.  Then, along came Fair Use.

For those not in-the-know, Fair Use is a caveat to copyright law which allows for limited use of copyrighted works within an educational setting and for an educational purpose.   This week I watched a video in which a Liberty University staff member attempted to clarify the concept and remove some misconceptions.

The primary misconception listed regarding Fair Use was that copyrights could be virtually ignored when used within an educational setting.  According to the video, this is wrong, and I understand and concur.  Next, the video gave the explanation, which also provided clear indication as to why the assumption exists in the first place and failed to clear the muddy waters.

Four factors are listed clearly against which one can measure the probability that the use of copyrighted material is legal with Fair Use.  The problem is that no specific threshold for any of the factors or combinations of factors is provided against which a prospective user could definitively state the use is legal.  The measurement of each factor only makes the Fair Use more or less probable.  In fact, at the end of the video, I am not sure I could say for certain if anything but the most extreme cases was either one or the other.

Even my explanation of the explanation is confusing.  Undoubtedly, the inability of the video to clarify this muddy concept is that the legal issues are ambiguous to begin with.  In the end, I believe the misconception still persists despite the clarification.  Unless I am selling tickets or adversely effecting the profit generated by the copyrighted work, an argument could be made that any educational use is Fair Use.

David Bennett

Liberty University