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CCUMC Multimedia Guidelines 

[MOD. NOTE:  This message from the ARL explains the reasons for various
library and higher education associations to endorse the CCUMC Multimedia
Guidelines, in response to a reader's question posed here recently.]


Educational Fair Use Guidelines for Multimedia:
A Summary of Concerns
February 6, 1997

	In July, 1996 the Consortium of College and University Media
Centers (CCUMC) completed a two-year process to develop fair use
guidelines for the creation of multimedia projects by educators and
students.  The guidelines, "Educational Fair Use Guidelines for
Multimedia," seek to clarify what constitutes 'fair use' of copyrighted
materials in an educational context.  This fact sheet summarizes the
concerns of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) and other
organizations that rejected the CCUMC guidelines as overly restrictive. 

	CCUMC developed the guidelines with representatives from
educational organizations, library associations, and copyright proprietary
groups.  Educational organizations and library association representatives
were active participants and raised many of the concerns noted below in
working group meetings.  In spite of many long discussions over the course
of the development of the guidelines, it is the opinion of many in the
educational community that the final guidelines did not address these
concerns and, therefore, the guidelines do not maintain the balance
between users and owners of copyrighted materials. 

	As of early 1997, several organizations have issued statements
opposing the guidelines including the Association of Research Libraries,
the American Library Association, the National Association of State
University and Land Grant Colleges, and a coalition led by the National
School Boards Association.  The concerns raised by these constituencies
include several common themes: 

**	The guidelines define fair use by imposing strict and 
narrow portion limitations.  Three examples are cited:

	**	10% or 3 minutes, whichever is less, of a motion media
	**	10% or 30 seconds, whichever is less, of music
	**	Retention of student projects for 2 years or less

** Recognizing that user rights are not unlimited, these portion
limitations still unduly restrict instructional creativity and the
development of in-depth multimedia applications for distance education
initiatives.

** These strictly-articulated quantitative limitations may establish
untenable precedents that may narrow the interpretation of fair use, and
thus will not fully protect the public's fair use rights. 
		
** The guidelines appear to make teachers and administrators legally
responsible for the activities of students. 

	The CCUMC multimedia guidelines were developed in a parallel, but
separate, process from fair use guidelines being developed by the
Conference on Fair Use (CONFU).  CCUMC encouraged CONFU participants to
become involved in their process, and the CCUMC working group eventually
became the CONFU educational multimedia working group.  CCUMC
representatives made regular reports at CONFU plenary meetings.  At the
November, 1996 plenary session, CONFU participants agreed to consider the
CCUMC guidelines as a proposal for fair use guidelines for educational
multimedia. 

	If a sufficient number of CONFU participants endorse the
guidelines by the final CONFU meeting scheduled for May, 1997, the CCUMC
guidelines will be included in the CONFU final report as CONFU fair use
guidelines for educational multimedia.

Prepared for ARL by 
Mary E. Jackson
ARL Access & Delivery Services Consultant

 
*********************************************************************
Mary E. Jackson                            mary@cni.org
Access & Delivery Services Consultant      202/296-2296 phone 
Association of Research Libraries          202/872-0884 fax
21 Dupont Circle
Washington, DC  20036
*********************************************************************


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