Questions about media centres and (video) libraries
4a. Can I deposit a video in a media centre or (video) library and tell my students to watch it?
4b. Can I put together a collection at the media centre consisting of copies that I have made of videos?
4c. Can I put together a collection at the media centre or library consisting of photos or slides for educational use?
4d. Am I allowed to upload videos from the collection to a server?
4e. Am I allowed to let people watch videos from the collection?
4f. Am I allowed to add metadata to videos from the collection?
4g. Am I allowed to lend out videos or photos from the collection?
4h. Am I allowed to copy videos from the collection?
4a. Can I deposit a video in a media centre or (video) library and tell my students to watch it?
If the students can take the material home with them, then it is being taken out on loan, perhaps in return for a non-commercial fee. Under the Dutch Copyright Act, a physical copy of a work that has been put into circulation by the right holder (or with the right holder’s permission – such as a bought copy of a video – may be loaned out if the right holder receives fair payment. This is the basic rule, but educational and research institutions and their libraries are not required to pay a loan fee to the right holder. A media centre or (video) library at an educational institution can therefore lend out videos to students so that they can watch them. These must, however, be physical copies of the work concerned that have been put into circulation by the right holder or with the right holder’s permission, i.e. DVDs, CDs (including CD-ROMs) or videos that have been bought in a shop. They must not be copies that teachers have made themselves, for example off the TV or Internet. DVDs and CD-ROMs sometimes carry a warning to the effect that they cannot be lent out without the permission of the right holder. It could be argued, however, that the rule in the Dutch Copyright Act takes precedence, making it possible for them to be lent out without prior consent being given.
If the students are only allowed to use the material at the media centre or (video) library, there is no question of the work concerned being lent out but of its being provided for consultation on the spot. User conditions regarding legally acquired copies may prohibit this, for example by only allowing you to watch a video in a domestic setting (but see also the NB section in 1g). But if nothing is said about this, such use is permitted.
The Academia licence for digital material produced by public broadcasters explicitly states that students and employees of educational institutions can consult such material both at work and at home by means of authorised access to a campus network. (As yet, not every institution enables access from a home workplace but they are all expected to provide this facility by the end of 2007.) Third parties are also allowed to consult material, but only within the walls of the institution. It should be noted that this does not involve physical copies at the media centre or library but streaming from the SURFnet Video Portal.
4b. Can I put together a collection at the media centre consisting of copies that I have made of videos?
The law says that this is not permitted if the copies can be taken out on loan outside the institution; only legally acquired copies may be lent out for use outside the institution (see 4a). In many cases, a media centre will contain copies that teachers have made of TV programmes and films broadcast by “open network” broadcasters. The Dutch Copyright Act does not make clear whether these can be made available for consultation on the spot. In actual practice, educational institutions follow the rule that this can be done without the permission of the right holder (and without payment being made), as long as the TV programmes concerned are only used at the premises of the institution, for example by allowing students to watch them there or using them during teaching.
Where videos are made by students in the context of their study programme, it is a good idea for the media centre to make it clear to them that the videos may be reused for educational purposes and included in an analogue or digital database. If the recordings have been made by teachers in the course of their employment, then the institution holds the copyright and the media centre can probably assume that it is permitted to include them in a collection for use in an educational context (but see 5e to g).
4c. Can I put together a collection at the media centre or library consisting of photos or slides for educational use?
The photos or slides concerned here have often been photocopied or scanned from books. The education exception (exception 2 in 1g) allows you to copy and show them as explanatory teaching material, as long as the right holder receives fair payment. That exception also probably allows you to assemble a collection of photos or slides for educational purposes, for example if the collection is made especially for art history students who need to “swot up pictures”. The education exception allows a compilation – which can be a collection – to include only a few short works by one and the same author (i.e. “maker”).
If the collection is assembled by teachers so that they can use it now and again in their teaching, then the education exception for the media centre is less likely to be applicable. In that case, the permission of the right holders is probably necessary for their works to be included in the collection (or database). As in the case of video material, the need to ask permission and pay a fee is generally ignored in actual practice if the collection is used solely within the educational institution.
A special exception applies to the collection held by the library of an educational institution. The library may publish works from its own collection on an intranet that is only accessible within the library. The same applies to a collection of photos or slides that the library has legally acquired, for example by purchasing them.
Prior to 2004, institutions and companies were permitted to make a copy (including a digital copy) for use by employees; this was often referred to as an “reserve copy”. Since 2004, only private individuals have been permitted to do this, for their own study purposes or for private use. Libraries are, however, allowed to make “preservation copies” of works from their own collection if there is a risk of the original deteriorating. Digital works in the collection may also be converted so that they can be accessed with new software.
Where photos are made by students in the context of their study programme, it is a good idea for the media centre to explicitly make clear to them that the photos can be reused for educational purposes and included in an analogue or digital database. If the photos have been made by teachers in the course of their employment, then the institution holds the copyright and the media centre can probably assume that it is permitted to include them in a collection for use in an educational context (but see 5e to g).
4d. Am I allowed to upload videos from the collection to a server?
Uploading videos to a server means that they are copied, stored and made available as a digital file (see 3e). If the videos have been legally acquired for the collection, they may be made available to users on an intranet within the walls of the library. (See 4c on copies for personal use and preservation copies.)
4e. Am I allowed to let people watch videos from the collection?
Items in a physical collection of legally acquired video recordings can be watched, i.e. recordings stored on physical media such as DVDs, CD-ROMs or videotapes. However, the user conditions for such video recordings may prohibit their being used outside a domestic setting (but also see the NB section in 1g).
Making video recordings available in digital form is not automatically permitted; it involves re-publication (see 3e and 4d). If this is done legally, then students can watch the video.
Educational institutions generally apply the guideline that self-recorded TV programmes broadcast by public broadcasters held in the collection of a media centre can be viewed only if this is done within the institution and for educational purposes.
The Academia licence allows material broadcast by public broadcasters to be made available on a campus network (by means of streaming from the SURFnet Video Portal).
4f. Am I allowed to add metadata to videos from the collection?
Yes, you may do so.
4g. Am I allowed to lend out videos or photos from the collection?
Material held in the collection can be lent out for use outside the educational institution is if the works concerned were acquired legally (see 4a).
The term “lending” is only used for physical copies; videos and photos can be on DVD, CD (including CD-ROMs) or videotapes, and photos also on paper (either separately or as part of a book). Making works available digitally does not count as lending them.
4h. Am I allowed to copy videos from the collection?
Before copying a video from the collection, you basically need to get the permission of the right holder. There are exceptions, however, if copying is for your own use or for use in an educational context. For this, the same conditions apply as described in 2c.