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This topic comprises 5 pages: 1 2 3 4 5
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Topic: Lawsuit over "Brokeback Mountain" screening at school
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Stephen Furley
Film God
Posts: 3059
From: Coulsdon, Croydon, England
Registered: May 2002
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posted 05-15-2007 08:59 AM
quote: Bobby Henderson
Aside from the point of Brokeback Mountain being a R-rated movie with both straight and gay sexual material in it.
I didn't see such material, but as I said, I didn't see the whole film; maybe 75% of it. It is possible that there was material in the film which I didn't see which would make it unsuitable for 12 year-olds. A teacher proposing to show any film to a class should have seen the entire film, and be familar with exactly what is in it.
quote: Bobby Henderson
I would question a teacher's judgment in showing any Hollywood movie that didn't directly contribute to the lesson plan of the specific class being taught. If the subject matter is irrelevant then the teacher is simply wasting the students' time.
Take out the word 'Hollywood', and I would agree with that; come to that, take out the word 'movie' as well. Anything which is put into a lesson should be there for a reason, and the teacher should be clear about what that reason is. It shouldn't be there just to fill some time, so he doesn't have to bother teaching the class.
quote: Mitchell Dvoskin
Actually, it is the studio who should be suing for the unlicenced public exhibition of a rented consumer DVD.
Good point Mitchell; in my day schools hired 16mm prints of films they wanted to show, and paid the appropriate non-commerciall exhibition fees for doing so. Today they show the films on video, and I would guess that at least 95% of the screenings are unlicenced. I don't actually know how you go about showing a film legitimately to such a group now. You can't just go into Blockbuster, say that you want to show the film to a school group, and pay the appropriate fee to do so; maybe you should be able to.
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John Hawkinson
Film God
Posts: 2273
From: Cambridge, MA, USA
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 05-15-2007 09:20 AM
US copyright law has an exception for face-to-face teaching in classrooms.
Please see 17USC§110(1):
quote:
Notwithstanding the provisions of section 106, the following are not infringements of copyright:
...
(1) performance or display of a work by instructors or pupils in the course of face-to-face teaching activities of a nonprofit educational institution, in a classroom or similar place devoted to instruction, unless, in the case of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, the performance, or the display of individual images, is given by means of a copy that was not lawfully made under this title, and that the person responsible for the performance knew or had reason to believe was not lawfully made;
There's often debate about what constitutes "face-to-face teaching," but in general, this exception permits most films to be legally shown in a classroom setting without obtaining a license. This does not mean that the entire school can assemble in an auditorium and watch the latest blockbuster without paying a rental fee, nor does it mean that teachers can show pirated versions from the Internet. But it does mean that they can legally rent a copy from Blockbuster (the copy was "lawfully made") and legally show it to students as part of teaching.
--jhawk
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Mark Lensenmayer
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1605
From: Upper Arlington, OH
Registered: Sep 1999
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posted 05-15-2007 12:09 PM
I would never show BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN to 12-year olds. I might show it in a Senior English class, but I would doubt that. Too many other non-controversial things to use...BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN is as political as INCONVENIENT TRUTH.
I also wouldn't show it, as we've been told over and over NOT to use commercial films in class. Studio's consider these to be "public performances". (jHawk, our school district attorneys have investigated this point, and they are very specific when they tell us teachers that we should never use rented, borrowed or owned commercial films, although short excerpts are considered "fair use". Teachers in our district that have used full commercial films instructionally have been threatened with lawsuits by the MPAA. "Fair Use" however, IS a very complex issue, and not worth going in to here.)
I personally wouldn't show BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN to anyone, as I couldn't stand hearing that STUPID GUITAR LINE OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER!
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Leo Enticknap
Film God
Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000
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posted 05-15-2007 01:49 PM
Stephen: There is a sex scene involving the two male leads. Although it takes place in semi-darkness and you can't see any anatomical detail, the combination of the visuals and the soundtrack leaves very little to the imagination. The film got a 15-certificate here, which I think is about right.
quote: Stephen Furley
Good point Mitchell; in my day schools hired 16mm prints of films they wanted to show, and paid the appropriate non-commerciall exhibition fees for doing so. Today they show the films on video, and I would guess that at least 95% of the screenings are unlicenced. I don't actually know how you go about showing a film legitimately to such a group now. You can't just go into Blockbuster, say that you want to show the film to a school group, and pay the appropriate fee to do so; maybe you should be able to.
Schools, FE (US: community college) and HE (universities, mainly) institutions can join the Educational Recording Agency scheme. The institution pays a flat annual fee based on the number of enrolled students, for which it gets a licence which allows the screening of any off-air recording from a UK terrestrial channel or any retail DVD published in the UK (therefore a Kino or Milestone DVD ordered through the US Amazon site isn't covered, for example) on its premises and within scheduled classes. It's not a free-for-all: all the recordings used for teaching have to be registered and proper records kept by the institution. Off-air recordings can also be copied by the institution. But again, all the copies have to be properly recorded by the institution and full details passed to ERA, e.g. the transmission date, time and channel.
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Leo Enticknap
Film God
Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000
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posted 05-15-2007 03:34 PM
quote: Caleb Johnstone-Cowan
You couldn't show the film in the UK anyway in class because it might contravene the law that prevents promoting homosexuality in schools (though I don't think the film does).
They repealed Section 28 a few years ago, but I can still imagine that you'd get some parents mieowing and hissing if any teacher attempted to show Brokeback Mountain in the context of sex education or anything vaguely related thereto.
<off topic, sorry>
Incidentally, when they did repeal it, the occasion gave rise (indirectly) to what is quite simply the funniest bit of radio I've ever heard. It was a discussion on the Today programme about a government initiative to encourage schoolchildren to get more exercise and therefore prevent obesity. One of the interviewees was Norman Tebbit, who said that this wouldn't do any good, because obesity was in fact caused by gay sex (story, with link to the audio, here). I was driving to work when he came out with that gem, and laughed so much I very nearly ran the car off the road.
</off topic, sorry>
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![[bs]](graemlins/bs.gif)
Seriously, if that'd been a story about a cowboy and a cowgal no-one'd ever have bothered to see it. But Ooooohhhh...they were *whispers* gay.![[puke]](graemlins/puke.gif)
There mustn't have been much else around that year.
![[thumbsup]](graemlins/thumbsup.gif)
I remember her getting up and turning off the tv for a bit during the nude scene but we saw enough, lol.
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