Is it legal to show web-based art on a screen in a corporate classroom?
March 30, 2016 7:07 PM Subscribe
My employer is serious about not using copyrighted materials unless you have the copyright holder's permission. But in a classroom situation, might there be "one weird trick" to get around it?
I work in a training department, where we have in-house instructors who teach fellow employees on various topics. Many courses take place in classrooms, where, typically, the instructor will project a PowerPoint presentation onto a screen at the front of the room while discussing the training topic.
There is a situation in which an instructor has located a funny piece of artwork on a website, which loosely relates to the course topic. He had intended to copy and paste the artwork into a slide of the PowerPoint, as a bit of comic relief. We told him that that's not allowed unless he gets permission from the work's creator.
Well, the work's creator can't be located (I've tried). There are a few different versions of the artwork on different websites, but the "attribution trail" leads to a dead end. Still, somebody created the artwork and can be assumed to own the copyright to it. (For the purposes of this question, let's assume that the web sites containing the artwork did not, themselves, bother to track down the copyright holder and obtain permission to post the artwork.)
So here's my question. Would it be legal for the instructor, at the point in which he would like to show the artwork to the class, to simply toggle over to a browser and open a web page that contains the artwork? He could then toggle back to PowerPoint and continue on with the presentation. No copying & pasting would have occurred.
Other (possibly-relevant) info: the websites in question are publicly available; there are no subscriptions or logins involved. Also, I work for a for-profit company, so although this is a classroom situation, I'm thinking that "fair use" doesn't really apply in this situation, but what do I know?
Thanks.
I work in a training department, where we have in-house instructors who teach fellow employees on various topics. Many courses take place in classrooms, where, typically, the instructor will project a PowerPoint presentation onto a screen at the front of the room while discussing the training topic.
There is a situation in which an instructor has located a funny piece of artwork on a website, which loosely relates to the course topic. He had intended to copy and paste the artwork into a slide of the PowerPoint, as a bit of comic relief. We told him that that's not allowed unless he gets permission from the work's creator.
Well, the work's creator can't be located (I've tried). There are a few different versions of the artwork on different websites, but the "attribution trail" leads to a dead end. Still, somebody created the artwork and can be assumed to own the copyright to it. (For the purposes of this question, let's assume that the web sites containing the artwork did not, themselves, bother to track down the copyright holder and obtain permission to post the artwork.)
So here's my question. Would it be legal for the instructor, at the point in which he would like to show the artwork to the class, to simply toggle over to a browser and open a web page that contains the artwork? He could then toggle back to PowerPoint and continue on with the presentation. No copying & pasting would have occurred.
Other (possibly-relevant) info: the websites in question are publicly available; there are no subscriptions or logins involved. Also, I work for a for-profit company, so although this is a classroom situation, I'm thinking that "fair use" doesn't really apply in this situation, but what do I know?
Thanks.
IANAL
Will the Powerpoint be printed, re-used, or available online? That's the main reason you need to worry about copying and pasting. You don't want it to propagate on the web or in print. If not, your likelihood of getting in trouble is pretty small; how would the artist know unless they were in the class? Given that you haven't been able to find them at all, your risk is not none but really low in that case.
I assume you've tried image recognition/TinEye searches.
I don't know enough about fair use to tell you if it is or isn't. There are probably ways for the instructor to make the same joke/point without using this piece of art, and that might be easier if you just don't want to worry about it. Or deal with opening browsers and such.
posted by emjaybee at 8:10 PM on March 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
Will the Powerpoint be printed, re-used, or available online? That's the main reason you need to worry about copying and pasting. You don't want it to propagate on the web or in print. If not, your likelihood of getting in trouble is pretty small; how would the artist know unless they were in the class? Given that you haven't been able to find them at all, your risk is not none but really low in that case.
I assume you've tried image recognition/TinEye searches.
I don't know enough about fair use to tell you if it is or isn't. There are probably ways for the instructor to make the same joke/point without using this piece of art, and that might be easier if you just don't want to worry about it. Or deal with opening browsers and such.
posted by emjaybee at 8:10 PM on March 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
Well, why wouldn't you be able to open a browser and show a page from a website in any context? Maybe you're thinking of public performance rights, but this isn't a performance.
This should be fine.
posted by bluedaisy at 8:33 PM on March 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
This should be fine.
posted by bluedaisy at 8:33 PM on March 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
IANAL
I work for a for-profit company, so although this is a classroom situation, I'm thinking that "fair use" doesn't really apply in this situation, but what do I know?
You are correct. The Fair Use exception you are thinking of in a "classroom" setting only applies to "non-profit educational institutions".
As for the meat of your question, I agree with the general sentiment so far that it would be hard to say with certainty that displaying the artwork is 100% legal, but it is also extremely unlikely anyone would know or care. The rules of what constitutes a "public performance" of any artwork are actually pretty complicated. For instance, it would definitely not be legal to show an entire film to the class just because one found it online, so where should we draw the line for "web-based art"?
posted by 2ghouls at 8:46 PM on March 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
I work for a for-profit company, so although this is a classroom situation, I'm thinking that "fair use" doesn't really apply in this situation, but what do I know?
You are correct. The Fair Use exception you are thinking of in a "classroom" setting only applies to "non-profit educational institutions".
As for the meat of your question, I agree with the general sentiment so far that it would be hard to say with certainty that displaying the artwork is 100% legal, but it is also extremely unlikely anyone would know or care. The rules of what constitutes a "public performance" of any artwork are actually pretty complicated. For instance, it would definitely not be legal to show an entire film to the class just because one found it online, so where should we draw the line for "web-based art"?
posted by 2ghouls at 8:46 PM on March 30, 2016 [1 favorite]
IANAL, but I am an artist.
I'm sorry, but it is simply not appropriate to display traditionally copyrighted work (ie: not Creative Commons licensed or similar) without permission unless the work itself is being commented on, criticized, parodied, etc. If the web site that is currently displaying said work did not obtain permission to display this work, I wouldn't visit the web site during the presentation if your company is a "stickler" about respecting copyright.
(I personally think that traditional copyright is kind of bullshit and license all of my work under CC, but, anecdotally, the vast majority of artists I've met and spoken with hate it when their work is used without their explicit permission.)
posted by xyzzy at 9:31 PM on March 30, 2016 [4 favorites]
I'm sorry, but it is simply not appropriate to display traditionally copyrighted work (ie: not Creative Commons licensed or similar) without permission unless the work itself is being commented on, criticized, parodied, etc. If the web site that is currently displaying said work did not obtain permission to display this work, I wouldn't visit the web site during the presentation if your company is a "stickler" about respecting copyright.
(I personally think that traditional copyright is kind of bullshit and license all of my work under CC, but, anecdotally, the vast majority of artists I've met and spoken with hate it when their work is used without their explicit permission.)
posted by xyzzy at 9:31 PM on March 30, 2016 [4 favorites]
IANAL but fair use extends to the purposes of commentary or criticism, which to me, sounds like you qualify.
To me, this does not sound like commentary on the art, or criticism of the art.
posted by amtho at 2:53 AM on March 31, 2016 [4 favorites]
To me, this does not sound like commentary on the art, or criticism of the art.
posted by amtho at 2:53 AM on March 31, 2016 [4 favorites]
There is a situation in which an instructor has located a funny piece of artwork on a website, which loosely relates to the course topic. He had intended to copy and paste the artwork into a slide of the PowerPoint, as a bit of comic relief.
No, what you're talking about is not (though it's very unlikely that anyone would notice or care). What your instructor is proposing is integrating a piece of content for the purposes of entertainment, which does not fall under fair use. As to the "but it's just a browser" argument, if I own a movie theatre, I can't just toggle over to a browser with Netflix in it and show a movie without licensing it that way. You can use a browser legitimately in the classroom if it's demonstrating, "This is what happens when someone browses to this type of site online," but not, "hey, look at this funny thing I found."
There's billions of pieces of license-able entertaining images out there - tell him to just find another one.
posted by Candleman at 6:50 AM on March 31, 2016 [2 favorites]
No, what you're talking about is not (though it's very unlikely that anyone would notice or care). What your instructor is proposing is integrating a piece of content for the purposes of entertainment, which does not fall under fair use. As to the "but it's just a browser" argument, if I own a movie theatre, I can't just toggle over to a browser with Netflix in it and show a movie without licensing it that way. You can use a browser legitimately in the classroom if it's demonstrating, "This is what happens when someone browses to this type of site online," but not, "hey, look at this funny thing I found."
There's billions of pieces of license-able entertaining images out there - tell him to just find another one.
posted by Candleman at 6:50 AM on March 31, 2016 [2 favorites]
The Fair Use exception you are thinking of in a "classroom" setting only applies to "non-profit educational institutions".
Just making sure that folks are clear on the various things that might allow this. There is also the TEACH Act which absolutely says you need to be nonprofit educational institutions. You can be a for-profit organization and still qualify for Fair Use exemptions but, like everything with copyright, you won't know if you've gotten it until after someone tries to sue you over it. So like Green Day, for example, a for-profit organization, was allowed to use an altered version of an artist's illustration as part of the backdrop to a music video they made, much to the artist's chagrin. There's a huge set of cases here you can poke through but if you're looking for a "Yes you can definitely do this" the answer is no, even though if it were me, I'd be doing it anyhow.
posted by jessamyn at 6:51 AM on March 31, 2016 [2 favorites]
Just making sure that folks are clear on the various things that might allow this. There is also the TEACH Act which absolutely says you need to be nonprofit educational institutions. You can be a for-profit organization and still qualify for Fair Use exemptions but, like everything with copyright, you won't know if you've gotten it until after someone tries to sue you over it. So like Green Day, for example, a for-profit organization, was allowed to use an altered version of an artist's illustration as part of the backdrop to a music video they made, much to the artist's chagrin. There's a huge set of cases here you can poke through but if you're looking for a "Yes you can definitely do this" the answer is no, even though if it were me, I'd be doing it anyhow.
posted by jessamyn at 6:51 AM on March 31, 2016 [2 favorites]
An unattributed slide in a powerpoint:
Is it perfectly legit? Maybe not.
Is anyone gonna care: No.
Unless you record and distribute your presentation. Then maybe.
posted by ovvl at 7:57 AM on March 31, 2016
Is it perfectly legit? Maybe not.
Is anyone gonna care: No.
Unless you record and distribute your presentation. Then maybe.
posted by ovvl at 7:57 AM on March 31, 2016
Would it be legal for the instructor, at the point in which he would like to show the artwork to the class, to simply toggle over to a browser and open a web page that contains the artwork? ... No copying & pasting would have occurred.
They'd have made a copy by viewing it. (Copyright law is hopelessly out of touch with modern reality.)
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 8:31 AM on March 31, 2016
They'd have made a copy by viewing it. (Copyright law is hopelessly out of touch with modern reality.)
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 8:31 AM on March 31, 2016
Unless the presentation will be distributed afterward, I think you are okay with just including a citation under the image, with a link back to the original post. Additionally, you might consider contacting a librarian (maybe your corporation has one) to see if they can be helpful in tracking down the correct artist for attribution or perhaps even permission.
posted by LKWorking at 8:49 AM on March 31, 2016
posted by LKWorking at 8:49 AM on March 31, 2016
I work in training, too, and I think if I asked our legal department if I could do something like this, they'd say no (though IANAL and have not asked ours this specific question). Even if the actual risk is small, this doesn't seem like an appropriate use of the work in question - AND you'd be setting a bad precedent where other instructors could assume it'd be fine if they did something similar. It really doesn't seem worth it; I agree with Candleman - find something license-able.
posted by DingoMutt at 12:14 PM on March 31, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by DingoMutt at 12:14 PM on March 31, 2016 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by DarlingBri at 8:03 PM on March 30, 2016 [1 favorite]