MPAA: teachers should videotape monitors, not rip DVDs

The Motion Picture Association of America has put itself back into the limelight as the DMCA exemptions hearings wraps up, thanks to a video circulating online suggesting teachers should use camcorders to record video instead of ripping DVD clips for classroom use. Though this suggestion has been floating around for some time now, the MPAA's attempt to push such a convoluted (and more costly) process into the classroom only highlights the industry's desperation to keep people away from DVD ripping—even when what they're doing falls into the category of fair use.

The video, posted on Vimeo, is actually of MPAA execs showing another video (meant to instruct teachers) to the US Copyright Office. The MPAA was showing the video as part of the triennial DMCA exemptions review, when all sides of the copyright debate whip out as much ammo as they can in an attempt to get the law extended to allow certain behaviors (or disallow, as the case may be) for the next three years.

MPAA shows how to videotape a TV set

In the video, the MPAA suggests that teachers who want to use movie clips as part of their curricula should use a camcorder to record the movie off of a TV set, and that this is an acceptable way to use video clips without breaking a DVD's copyright protections.

Nevermind that this solution results in video of questionable quality and requires teachers to learn even more tech in order to get the job done. It also requires schools (or, given the way most schools are run, the teachers themselves) to incur additional costs to purchase camcorders and videotapes if they don't have them already. Add in the extra time involved, and this "solution" is a laughably convoluted alternative to simply ripping a clip from a DVD.

Granted, teachers who want to rip DVD clips may still have to learn a bit in order to create a finished product, but that process still involves less equipment and fewer steps, not to mention a better-quality video. And, let's not forget that US copyright law already offers exemptions to teachers who want to use copyrighted clips for educational use—they shouldn't have to jump through hoops to get those same clips just because the MPAA insists on continuing to fight the already lost battle to keep people from ripping DVDs.