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I am a student of English and a teacher to
be. During my methodology classes I have learnt about advantages of using video
in teaching English. Eager to try it out I downloaded some animated films �
extracts and decided to use them. However, I realized that every film has this
warning at the beginning that forbids you to show it to the audience.
I wanted to use advertisement spots and
films but now I am afraid of the legal consequences. It may seem funny if you
teach young learners but what about conferences and universities, when you deal
with people you do not know well.
I could not find any documents that would definitely
state that using films for educational purpose only is legal. My Polish teachers
have never had to face any legal consequences connected with the issue but it
doesn �t guarantee that I will not have such a problem.
How do you deal with this issue in your
countries? Do you get any permissions from the film companies? Do you think
that using films that are available on the youtube is legal?
it is very illegal to go to the video shop, rent a video and show it to your class - or even to buy the video and show it to your class. Yet teachers do this all the time.
If you are using extracts from films (only a small part of it) for educational purposes then it is fine. It is the showing of an entire movie that is illegal. You have to be using the extract for a reason not originally intended by the author of the movie - ie education rather than entertainment.
If it is on youtube - and has been put up their legitimetly (ie it is not an illegal copy) then the author has made it available to the public and you are allowed to use it - there is no end licence agreement on youtube.
As far as I am aware their is no legal issues with using ads or movie trailers. I always use these as they are short, funny and can be a great tool for english education.
Hey Vickii! When starting a film it says that it is not to be used commercially. But commercially usually means something to do with income or selling tickets. If we show a film to a group of kids and they haven �t paid to see it, why would that be illegal? You could show a film you bought to as many friends as you like in your own living room! I never really understood all that rigmarole!
www.unitedstreaming.com has tons of educational videos you can use!!! You have to pay to use the site but it �s awesome. The school district I work for pays for it and I use it all the time!
I was very glad to see that as a teacher to be you are not afraid of asking questions, of showing your doubts. It clearly demonstrates the great teacher you are going to be. I do think that most of the teachers who come to participate in this forum understand how sharing is almost 50% of the process of planning. Congratulations!
So, concerning your question, it �s not a teacher �s role to show a complete video/film to his/her class, unless it �s a part of a preparation to a debate or it �s an unavailable movie (which is difficult to find nowadays, by the way). Even though, you can ask your students to watch the movie at home!
The best way of working with a film/video is to choose significative parts of it and plan to show them with specific activities. I do this all the time, to work mainly with aspects of culture, pronunciation and colloquialism.
In Australia, irrespective of whether a teacher rents or buys a video/DVD, distribution policies and practices in the film industry make a distinction between private/domestic use and �non theatrical� public performance of films which includes use in a classroom. If it says "For Domestic and/or Private Use Only", showing it in a classroom, while not a breach of copyright, may be a breach of the contract of sale.
Our institutional library purchases movies for us to show and they must buy it through an educational outlet.They pay a lot more for it but this cost covers classroom use.
Interestingly enough, we are not allowed to use You Tube.We have been told to use Teacher Tube instead (www.teachertube.com).
Thank you for your replies and websites links. Your
way of thinking is completely reasonable.
However, I was wondering Vickiii, how to check if a film on the Internet is put
there legitimately? Thank you for your opinions
