Studio SPJ: Journalism, Fair Use and Copyright Law

Join us for a discussion of how "fair use" and copyright law affect the practice of journalism on the next episode of Studio SPJ at 3:30 p.m. Eastern on Saturday, Nov. 10.

 

Our guests will be Patricia Aufderheide and Peter Jaszi, two American University professors who are the authors of "Reclaiming Fair Use - How to Put Balance Back in Copyright."

 

Former SPJ national presiden and ethics committee chairman Kevin Smith will serve as host of the 30-minute program, which is sponsored by the Cincinnati Pro chapter of SPJ.

 

Fair use is a doctrine under which courts have permitted copyrighted material to be used without permission or payment under certain circumstances.

 

Understanding the doctrine can be crucial to journalists trying to do reporting in a digital age. Yet a study the authors and two other colleagues published in July found that most journalists don't fully understand what fair use means.

 

"This is extremely valuable information, to be able to do their jobs better,

Smith said of the study. "I hope to see a set of principles evolve, which can make it easier to know what's the right thing to do."

 

You can improve your understanding and how it applies to your work by listening to this informative program live or hearing it later as a podcast. Here is a link to the broadcast.

 

Aufderheide is a professor in American University's School of Communications where she is the director for The Center for Social Media.

 

Jaszi is a professor of domestic and international copyright law at the Washington College of Law at American University..