Right to quote — a teacher’s best friend?
The importance for the creative process to be able to build on works of others is known since many centuries. As Isaac Newton said (and many others have repeated), ‘if I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants’. For scientists or journalists, the right to reproduce a part or even a whole interviews and speeches can be indispensable in their work. This also concerns teachers. The “Right to quote” is fundamental for teaching and learning purposes, such as analysing poems, literary works and creating educational materials.
Why it is so important for education?
Fortunately, there is a copyright exception in all EU countries that allows everyone to make quotations of copyrighted works without permission and compensation. In fact, the right to quote is the only mandatory exception under the Berne Convention. Although its scope is likely different from country to country, the existence of the quotation exception is an important and useful safeguard for education and freedom of expression.
It seems obvious that teaching and learning is not possible without being able to analyze, comment, or quote other works. In many jurisdictions, quotation exceptions tend to be flexible and open. They are easily adaptable to different circumstances, and oftentimes used in conjunction with related exceptions to copyright, such as those that support teaching. The quotation exception plays an even more fundamental role for educators in countries without or with narrow teaching exceptions.
Educational exceptions vs. the right to quote
Exceptions and limitations dealing with uses of protected works for educational purposes offer a patchwork of solutions within the EU, whereas the quotation exception is more or less harmonized across Europe. With educational exceptions, it is often unclear whether they apply to the digital world, which can create significant limitations when it comes to modern education practices. The exception granting the right to quote is more clearly applicable to digital and online uses, and only a few EU countries have questioned whether this exception applies in the digital world.
The second important advantage to the quotation exception is that usually it is not restricted in terms of beneficiaries. In comparison, the teaching exception only covers educational establishments (ie, schools and universities), and only a few other limited audiences beyond formal educational institutions. This means that when an individual, an NGO, or another group is involved in teaching or learning, they are not necessarily covered by the educational exception.
The fact that the quotation exception offers more possibilities to teachers does not mean that it has an unlimited scope. Most countries limit the specific purpose for which a quotation can be made. This is not much of a problem for teachers because most educational purposes are clearly covered by the quotation exemption.
In some countries, quotations can also be limited as to the amount and nature of the works used, which can be a real obstacle for a teacher or a student to use an entire — but short — work (e.g. short articles or short poems), or a full image, as we will see below on the example of Pablo Picasso painting. Even more uncertainty arises in the context of audio-visual works, because the interpretation of what qualifies as a quotation is different between countries. According to the example provided by Julia Reda in her report on the current copyright framework for the European Parliament, in a “UN campaign video was taken down because it included a brief copyrighted clip (an audio-visual quote) of its celebrity spokesperson.”
Rules can be simple…
Under the Berne Convention, the quotation exception is open to anyone and may be used on any category of works: books, movies, songs, graphics, or poems — as long as the materials you are using are already available to the public. The length of quotation is not determined, but it must be ‘compatible with fair practice’ and ‘not exceed that what is justified by the purpose’. Currently there is no list of specific purposes, but it is considered that scientific or educational purposes as well as critical and informatory purposes are included within its scope. The name of the author and the source(s) of the work must be mentioned.
…but usually are more complex
Things get more complicated when it comes to domestic laws. As we mentioned, even the quotation exceptions vary some from country to country. For example, in Estonia a teacher can freely quote works to any justified extent in online and offline environments, while in its neighbor Latvia it is considered an infringement to email a paragraph from a book to students engaged in a book discussion. In France, courts have refused to apply the quotation exception with respect to artistic and works of art, as reproducing protected works in full is not regarded as a short quotation, and even partial quotations can violate an author’s moral rights (integrity of the work).
According to the working paper “Educational Resources Development: Mapping Copyright Exceptions and Limitations in Europe” by Teresa Nobre, almost all of the national legislation that imposes a limit to the extent of quotation pose problems to the quotation of short works and entire works of art: “40,6% do not exempt the quotation of entire short works and 37,5% do not allow the quotation of entire works of art.” This means that if a teacher wants to quote entire work of art, her location will fundamentally determine whether it is allowed.
Need for the best possible solutions
Copyright should empower teaching and learning. Mandatory and flexible exceptions and limitations to copyright law are crucial in this matter. Finland and Denmark have adopted the view that all types of works may be quoted in accordance with proper usage to the extent necessary for any purpose. But many other countries have implemented more burdensome restrictions to using the exception. Why is this the case? Or, why is it that only Estonia has implemented the widest possible teaching exception as allowed by the EU law?
The existing limitations and exceptions to copyright law should remove barriers to modern teaching and learning, especially in cross-border online education. That is why the best way to achieve this goal is to ensure that they are: mandatory, flexible, neutral with regard to media type, format and technology, able to address local and cross-border education needs and cover all necessary uses provided they are in accordance with fair practice.
Do you agree that the quotation exception plays fundamental role in education? How do quotation exceptions work in your country? We recommend the COMMUNIA position paper on exceptions and limitation in education. Please comment below. The next blog post will be published in two weeks, so please subscribe to the Copyright Untangled.
