Erik’s Random Babble

This is a question that I have been asked a number of times, and anticipate I will face again when class play season returns in the spring. And I will admit that in the past, I have made copies for a teacher without really thinking too much of it (and imagine that I’m not alone in this). However, our classroom discussions on copyright issues has made me rethink this considerably, and intend to change the way I deal with this situation in the future.

The FCPS Guidelines for Use of Print Music & Sound Recordings state that “for academic purposes other than performance, single or multiple copies of excerpts or works may be made, provided the excerpts do not comprise a part of the whole work which would be independently performable, such as a section, a movement or an aria.” Going with the 10% rule that we’ve discussed doesn’t really offer a viable solution, since I am sure that teachers wouldn’t see that giving students only abbreviated, excerpted versions of their class play soundtracks as being particularly useful. Also, the time and effort involved in created a compliant excerpted version of the soundtrack would definitely not be the best use of my time.

So, what are the alternatives? One option, which I will likely suggest to teachers early in the new year to get them thinking about this well in advance of their plays, is to provide students with the means of purchasing additional copies for individual use at home. Being fortunate enough to work at a school located in a fairly affluent area makes me feel that this wouldn’t be something that would meet with any particular resistance from parents. Also, it might be possible to get a “bulk discount” when purchasing a large number of the same soundtrack CDs. Another less desirable possibility would be for the teacher to write to the copyright holder of the play soundtrack to ask for permission for making the duplicates. Actually, I would think that since many of these class play soundtracks are marketed to teachers, they would take these sorts of requests into account and accommodate them as much as possible. Indeed, I would expect that at least some of these play soundtracks would even explicitly state that duplication is permitted. Of course, even if duplication were allowed or teachers were able to get permission from the copyright holder to make copies, I would be hesitant to do this or even show teachers how to do so – because it would require a great deal of time on my part (or the teacher’s) to make multiple copies, and also because by showing teachers how to make duplicates, it might encourage them to do so again in the future without paying attention to the copyright issues at all.