Under the copyright law, even fictional characters have rights

We would like to paint book characters on the walls of our library. Is there a resource that will tell us if a character is copyrighted?
—Derek Edmisten, media specialist, Hardin Park Elementary School, Boone, NC

Copyright is automatic. One attains copyright protection as soon as his original, creative expression is fixed in a tangible medium. Copyright registration is no longer required. There is no one place to find out what is protected. The general rule of thumb is that you should assume that all characters are protected by copyright unless the characters were published prior to 1923. Characters published prior to 1923 are in the public domain. (There are all kinds of exceptions to this rule that are too numerous to go into here.) Trademark law can also protect characters, such as Disney's Mickey Mouse. But perhaps you are referring to characters that appear in books, like Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon. If you draw your own version of the private eye, you won't have to worry about copyright law, because your image will not be a copy of the image that appears in Dashiell Hammet's novel.

Our library was recently given some DVDs that a donor had received free with a magazine subscription. The DVDs are labeled for promotional use only and are not to be sold or rented. Am I allowed to show the DVDs as part of a library program?
—Eve M. Cowart, children's librarian, Westbrook Branch Library, Jacksonville, FL

The answer to this question hinges on whether the DVDs are "lawful copies." There are at least two ways to look at this. Let's assume the donor paid for the subscription. If he hadn't purchased one, he would not have received the promotional DVDs from the publisher. Therefore, the DVDs are lawful copies.

On the other hand, it can also be argued that the publisher intended only the subscriber to retain the DVDs as a special gift. Can the subscriber "give away" lawfully acquired copies as a matter of first sale when those copies are labeled "not for sale or rental"? Does that statement also apply to donating the DVDs (since the DVDs are transferred to another party)? And finally, is the statement a legally binding contractual agreement between the subscriber and the publisher? In other words, does the publisher have any legal right to tell the subscriber what he can or cannot do with the DVDs?

The law is clear that only lawful copies of protected works can be publicly performed. I tend to think that these copies are lawful, but it's a close call. And remember, a public-performance license is required when you show videos and DVDs to a public group except for teaching purposes in the face-to-face classroom. So even if the copies are lawful, you cannot use the DVDs for a program without prior permission. Who knew accepting a gift would be so problematic?

Our principal wondered if educational movies that do not belong to our collection (such as some of National Geographic's) can be shown in the classroom. I told him I didn't think so, but I'd research it. Can you give me some advice?
—Mary McCarty, library media specialist, Pinewood Middle School, Kentwood, MI

If the National Geographic movies are lawfully acquired (here we go again), the videos can be shown in the classroom. If the principal purchased or rented the videos, then they are lawful copies. What if the principal taped the National Geographic programs directly from television broadcasts? Yes, the videos can still be shown in the classroom as a matter of fair use.

For those readers that like to refer to "fair-use guidelines," the off-air recording guidelines state that TV programs can be taped (including programs transmitted by cable but not pay-per-view programs) for instructional purposes within a 10-day period and can be retained for up to 45 days by the library. These guidelines apply strictly to nonprofit educational institutions. Under no circumstances should taped programs be added to the library's permanent collection. If a video will be used repeatedly for curriculum purposes, then the library should buy a copy.