A communications scholar wants to analyze popular sitcoms, but decides not to because she doesn't know if she can record and store them legally. Another communications scholar wants to include images of the advertisements his book critiques, but the publisher insists on his getting permissions for all of them; the scholar can't even get an answer to his query. Yet another wants to use different kinds of violent incidents in popular films in a media effects experiment, but fears it will violate copyright.
Under the U.S. doctrine of fair use (and under copyright exemptions of many other nations), all these actions would be legal. Exemptions make it legal to quote copyrighted material without permission or payment under some circumstances. However, as a survey conducted by International Communication Association scholars finds, far too many communications scholars do not know their rights. As a result, they do less than the best possible scholarship-a harm that is avoidable, with education and ICA action.
This research, summarized in Clipping Our Own Wings: Copyright and Creativity in Communication Research, resulted from a coordinated effort by ICA members. At the 2009 ICA annual conference in Chicago, a preconference workshop on copyright drew together concerned researchers to act. They formed the Ad-Hoc Committee on Copyright and Academic Freedom, working with the Task Force on Communication and Media Policy (names at end of article). With approval from the ICA board, the committee plunged into a survey of the ICA membership. With leadership from Bill Herman, the committee wrote the report, Clipping Our Own Wings, issued April 1 on the ICA website.
The results are sobering: Nearly half the respondents express anxiety about their copyright knowledge in relation to their research. Nearly one-third avoided research subjects or questions and a full one-fifth abandoned research already underway because of copyright concerns. In addition, many ICA members have faced resistance from publishers, editors, and university administrators when seeking to exercise their rights under fair use doctrine to include copyrighted works in their research. Scholars are sometimes forced to seek copyright holders' permission to discuss or criticize copyrighted works. Such permission seeking puts copyright holders in a position to exercise veto power over the publication of research, especially research that deals with contemporary or popular media.
These results demonstrate that scholars in communication frequently encounter confusion, fear, and frustration around the unlicensed use of copyrighted material. These problems, driven largely by misinformation and gatekeeper conservatism, inhibit researchers' ability to choose research topics, conduct rigorous analyses, and develop creative methodologies for the digital age.
As a result of this survey, the board of the International Communication Association, working with the Center for Social Media and the Washington College of Law at American University, has authorized the creation of a Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Communication Scholarship. That code will be released at the ICA annual meeting in Singapore, and will be showcased at a panel in the Communication, Law, & Policy Division.
Codes of best practices in fair use have had a powerful effect on the fields that have adopted them, especially those of documentary filmmakers, film scholars, and media literacy teachers. These codes translate the flexible but vague doctrine of fair use for particular communities; the collective nature of the expression dramatically lowers the risk of any individual or institution making a fair use decision under its guidance.
Non-U.S. members of ICA face different copyright regimes, and most lack fair use. However, all copyright regimes have some exemptions, including educational and "right of quotation" exemptions. The ICA report, Clipping Our Own Wings, makes clear the cost of ignoring and not putting to use exemptions and limitations.
Committee members:
Patricia Aufderheide, American U
Chris Boulton, U of Massachusetts
Edward L. Carter, Brigham Young U
Aymar Jean Christian, U of Pennsylvania
Peter Decherney, U of Pennsylvania
Michael X. Delli Carpini, U of Pennsylvania
Tarleton Gillespie, Cornell U
Larry Gross, U of Southern California
Eszter Hargittai, Northwestern U
Bill D. Herman, Hunter College
Renee Hobbs, Temple U
Peter Jaszi, American U
Sut Jhally, U of Massachusetts
Steve Jones, U of Illinois - Chicago
Mark Latonero, California State U - Fullerton
Kembrew McLeod, U of Iowa
Hector Postigo, Temple U
Jonathan Sterne, McGill U
Lokman Tsui, U of Pennsylvania
Bruce Williams, U of Virginia
