Deciding the Boundary（copyright law/fair use/novel/film/education）
Deciding the Boundary（copyright law/fair use/novel/film/education）
Li Dongtao
Description: + outsiders = copyright infringement.
The Facts
The line is fine, yet to define,
Nothing can still fade away.
This is a case about “Line”
The plaintiff is a famous Chinese writer.
The defendant is a film institute.
In 1958, the plaintiff wrote a novel and the novel was published by a publishing house nationwide.
In March, 1993, a student of the defendant, in order to meet a requirement for graduation, adapted the novel into a screenplay.
After reading it, the defendant decided to accept it as a final project for a group of students preparing to graduate from the institute, but without any written permission from the plaintiff.
In July 1993, the film, that had the same title as the novel, was finished. The producer was the defendant.
Afterwards, the film was shown in the defendant’s auditorium only once for the purpose of teaching, to an audience that included the involved students and their teachers, but still some local citizens saw the film with tickets sold by the defendant.
The plaintiff sued the defendant for copyright infringement.
The defendant argued that the copyright infringement was not established because it was for the educational purpose and it was a fair use.
Analysis
The copyright infringement is established.
The issue in this case can be divided into two phrases: the film’s producing and the film’s showing.
Though there was no authorization from the author, the film was produced for educational purposes, it is a fair use and the copyright infringement was not established.
But, since some local citizens outside the institute saw the film with tickets sold by the defendant, the film was shown not only for the purpose of education, it is not a fair use, the copyright infringement is established.
In short, the line (fair use) is fine, copyright doesn’t fade away.
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