Fair Use
Concerns about fair use in utilizing media to teach economics are addressed in a number of places, notably Sexton (2006) Mateer and Stephenson (2011) and Grant, Ghent and Lesica (2011). All material available on comicnomics.com is hosted at www.criticalcommons.org. Critical Commons is a “public media archive and fair use advocacy network that supports the transformative reuse of media in scholarly and creative contexts. Critical Commons is also part of the technical and conceptual architecture of the Alliance for Networking Visual Culture and the electronic authoring/publishing platform Scalar.”
The use of these video clips and comic panels is for the express purpose of teaching economics. According to the U.S. Copyright Office, section 107
Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include—
(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;
(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.
Using film and comic clips to teach economics would not appear to infringe on copyright based on the fair use factors provided by the U.S. Copyright Office. Nevertheless, if you are concerned that showing a video clip or comic panel in class may constitute copyright infringement, contact your college’s or university’s legal representative.
