Presented at the Internet Research 16 conference in Phoenix, AZ, Oct 24, 2015. Based on: Sinnreich, A. & Aufderheide, P. (2015). Communication scholars and fair use: The case for discipline-wide education and institutional reform. International Journal of Communication, 9; 818-828. Abstract: A survey of 350 communication scholars internationally shows that, although scholars are increasingly aware of fair use and (when aware of it) benefit from the Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Communication Scholarship, they continue to suffer from confusion and ignorance about how to apply this feature of copyright law that is crucial to their work. Most are not aware of the code, although those who use it report success. The survey results point to the need for discipline-wide education and application of the code’s affordances for institutional reform.

1. Fair Use and Academic Freedom
Copyright Attitudes and Practices
Among Communication Scholars in a
Digital Environment
Aram Sinnreich, American University SOC
Patricia Aufderheide, American University SOC

2. The Comm Scholar Fair Use Survey
n = 350
Faculty
73%
Students
21%
Other
6%
<5 years
19%
5-10
years
24%10-20
years
32%
20+
years
25%
ICA
member
77%
non-ICA
23%
Mostly faculty
& students.
Over 90% from
research Univs
Mostly ICA members
All career phases

3. Opinions

4. Communication Scholars Value Fair Use
145
60
25 29
8 4 3
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Absolutely
necessary
for creators
and scholars
Totally
unfair
to creators
and scholars
Very
useful
Somewhat
useful
Not
sure
Somewhat
damaging
Very
damaging
Mean:
1.97
“How useful or damaging do you think fair use rights are for scholarship and creative expression?”

5. Fair Use is Educational & Liberatory
“What words would you associate with fair use?”

6. 98%
90%
82%
91%
82%
68%
98%
93%
87%
95%
92%
76%
Creative appropriation
can be “original”
Creative appropriation shouldn’t
necessarily require permission
Comm.
Scholars
Doc.
Filmmakers
General
Population
US
non-US
Communication Scholars Are Open
to Creative Appropriation
US
non-US
US
non-US
US
non-US
US
non-US
US
non-US

7. Copyright, Fair Use & Labor

8. Scholars say Copyright
Stifles Research & Teaching…
…yet most of the
work they describe is
actually protected
under fair use:
• Making remixes &
mashups
• Multimedia projects
• Excerpt video for
teaching
• Illustrations in
scholarly publications
• Student assignments
in media production
“Are there scholarly or teaching practices you would like
to try, if you were not limited by copyright?”
Yes
61.7%
No
38.3%
US Non-US
Yes
72.6%
No
27.4%

9. Copyright Concern Does Limit Practice
Changed a course or publication
because of copyright restrictions
Sought permission despite
probable fair use rights
41.5%
46.4%
59.0% 57.9%
0%
25%
50%
75%
<5 5-10 10-20 20+
Seniority (years)
34.7%
28.8%
41.9%
51.4%
0%
25%
50%
75%
<5 5-10 10-20 20+
Seniority (years)

10. Comm Scholars Are Self-Censoring
3.2%
5.7%
6.4%
10.8%
12.7%
12.7%
15.3%
20.4%
27.4%
57.3%
0% 25% 50% 75%
Funder
Coauthor
AV staff
IT staff
Rights holder
Other
Legal
Editor
Librarian
Myself
“Who raised the copyright concerns?”

11. Real Fair Use Knowledge
is Power

12. Fair Use Confidence is High
Yes
94.2%
No
5.8%
Are you familiar with
the term “fair use”?
Excellent
25.5%
Good
61.4%
Not sure
8.2%
Not good
3.0%
How would you rank your
personal comfort level
interpreting fair use?
Yes
78.5%
No
15.2%
Actual definition of
“fair use” matches
understanding
Yes Good or
Excellent

13. But Overconfidence is a Problem
Yes
17.6%
No
82.4%
Did you know that
Cambridge/Oxford
accept fair use?
Yes
14.3%
No
11.7%
Don't
know
73.9%
Can students at your
institution use fair
use in thesis?
Yes
27.4%
No
72.6%
Did you know that
academics have
DMCA exemption?

14. Yes
31.0%
No
58.3%
Not sure
10.7%
Best Practices – When Known – Can Help
Familiar with
Code of Best
Practices
Have you ever
used the Code?
Was it helpful?
Yes Yes
Yes
30.7%
No
69.3%
Yes
88.0%
Not
sure
10.7%

15. Progress is a Mixed Bag
2010
(code published)
43%
58%57%
87%
51%
65%
30%
40%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
2009 2014
Employed Fair Use
Good/excellent
knowledge of ©
Likely to change work if
no © concerns
Paid when use was fair

16. Thank you.
aram@american.edu
paufder@american.edu
Download the Code
of Best Practices
Download
The paper