A Florida high school required parents' permission for students to watch Disney's 'Tangled,' prompting some to say local education laws are 'out of control'

stopthatgirl7@kbin.social to News@lemmy.world – 285 points –
A Florida high school required parents' permission for students to watch Disney's 'Tangled,' prompting some to say local education laws are 'out of control'
businessinsider.com

One parent said the influx of permission slips is getting "out of control" and "burdensome."

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As with most legal matters, it depends: https://www.copyright.gov/fair-use/index.html

Purpose and character of the use, including whether the use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes: Courts look at how the party claiming fair use is using the copyrighted work, and are more likely to find that nonprofit educational and noncommercial uses are fair. This does not mean, however, that all nonprofit education and noncommercial uses are fair and all commercial uses are not fair; instead, courts will balance the purpose and character of the use against the other factors below. Additionally, “transformative” uses are more likely to be considered fair. Transformative uses are those that add something new, with a further purpose or different character, and do not substitute for the original use of the work. Nature of the copyrighted work: This factor analyzes the degree to which the work that was used relates to copyright’s purpose of encouraging creative expression. Thus, using a more creative or imaginative work (such as a novel, movie, or song) is less likely to support a claim of a fair use than using a factual work (such as a technical article or news item). In addition, use of an unpublished work is less likely to be considered fair.

I don't know many schools willing to bother finding out whether the use was fair.

I don't know many schools willing to bother finding out whether the use was fair.

It is not the school's responsibility to bother finding out. It is Disney's responsibility, as the troll claiming copyright protections, to make the claim that it's not fair use, and it is the court's responsibility to determine the validity of such a claim.

Unless Disney decides to intervene, there is no question that it is fair use. Even if a copyright troll does decide to intervene, it is still probably fair use.

I agree it's the court's decision and that Disney will likely not bring it to court because schools have little as it is and it'd be a PR nightmare.

As to whether it actually is fair use, I also agree with "probably."

Because of that, any school's legal team will recommend against permission slips for Disney movies so teachers can just play them without asking for parent approval like every other school