Q. I have recorded some TV programs and want to make an edited DVD with portions suitable for the class. Am I allowed to do this?

As usual the answer isn’t a straight yes or no.

Recording television broadcasts to show in the classroom can be done within certain restrictions: 

• News: News programs or news commentaries can be recorded and screened in class. 
  • Example: the National (news segment only), CityTV, etc.
• Purchased programs: Purchased TV programming on DVD can be shown in class.
• Recorded programs: Recorded at the time of broadcast, TV documentaries (W5, 5^th Estate, 20/20, Dateline, etc) and TV series can be screened in face-to-face classrooms only if there is no commercially available DVD copy. 
• Digital locks: You can never use materials where you have had to bypass “technical protection measures” (digital locks or passwords) to make a recording or to view a work.

So, you may not show your recordings if there is a commercially available DVD of the programs you have recorded, or if the content is digitally protected. In these cases you would need to purchase the desired DVDs for classroom use.

Please contact the copyright team  if you have any questions.