How do I use third-party videos in OER in a legally compliant way?

Film recordings/videos are protected by copyright as so-called motion pictures. Before publishing third-party or your own video material, you should ensure that no third-party rights (in particular copyrights, personal rights, trademark rights) are infringed. If the recordings show recognizable persons, remember that they must always consent to the publication (see FAQ "How do I use images of people in OER in a legally compliant manner?").

You can use copyright-protected video recordings in OER by linking to them in different ways - by setting a hyperlink or embedding third-party content in your material (embedding and framing). Links in the non-commercial area are permitted from a legal perspective. An exception applies in the event that links are knowingly placed to infringing content or the infringement is obvious (e.g. child pornography, national socialist statements, etc.). In this case, the linking person can be held liable.

You can find out what applies to the use of videos on YouTube here: https://irights.info/artikel/die-hufigsten-fragen-zu-musik-bei-youtube/7244

Public domain videos - the authors have been dead for 70 years - may be used in OER without restrictions.

Film works, on the other hand, have a special feature. These only become public domain when all filmmakers - directors, producers, composers, screenwriters - have been deceased for 70 years.

Please note that other protection periods may apply to foreign film works.

You can quote from protected film works/videos in OER under certain conditions. Below we provide an overview of the citation rules for film works and videos:

Citation rules for film and video

A film/video citation is permitted if the following rules are observed:

Movie quote:

The cited film work must already be published
Your own film must be a work, i.e. it must be a work of authorship and not just a compilation of various film excerpts from others
The own film work must deal with the quoted film work (quoting to "decorate" is not permitted)
The showing of entire films (large quotation, § 51 p. 2 no. 1 UrhG) is only permitted if the showing of an excerpt is not sufficient for the purpose of the quotation (e.g. a short advertising film), the quotation is made for scientific purposes and the third-party film work explains your own statements
If in doubt, only quote small excerpts
Indication of source, § 63 UrhG: The following information is mandatory: director, producers, title, year of publication, carrier/medium, time of the cited passage, country of production, place, production company
Observe the prohibition of alteration, § 62 UrhG

Video quote:

In addition to the requirements already mentioned in the film citation (see film citation), the following sources that differ from the film citation must be cited:

Full title of the video
Names or user names of the creators
Full title of the source page and a complete URL
The date of video creation
Medium used for publication - Access date

Videos that are openly licensed as OER may be used freely subject to the respective license conditions.

Edit openly licensed videos/films in compliance with the law:

If the license for the video/film permits editing, the following applies:

An adaptation in the sense of copyright law exists if a work is substantially changed. Section 14 UrhG - prohibition of alteration and distortion - must be observed. A video/film work may not be edited in such a way that it is distorted. The original work is considered the optimum in copyright law. A work is distorted within the meaning of Section 14 UrhG if its characteristic features disappear and the work is no longer recognizable as such. A video/film work can also be distorted if it is shown in a context that can have a negative effect on the overall intellectual and aesthetic impression of the work (e.g. showing in advertising). Distortion of a work is a copyright infringement. An exception to this is caricature, parody, pastiche, § 51a UrhG. Accordingly, the reproduction, distribution and public communication of a published work for the purpose of caricature, parody and pastiche is permitted. The authorization according to sentence 1 includes the use of an image or other reproduction of the work used, even if this is itself protected by copyright or a related right. The question of when a parody is permissible is judged differently by case law.

Typical video adaptations in the sense of copyright law are translations, remixes, generally the use of filters, effects, possibly color changes, cropping. There is no editing in the case of purely technical changes, e.g. downsizing, digitization, use of a new format, etc.

Editing for private use is permitted under Section 14 UrhG. The publication of an edited video, on the other hand, is generally only possible if the content is in the public domain or if the author or rights holder has given their consent, Section 23 UrhG. This is usually the case for openly licensed videos (with editing rights - without ND). Illegal adaptations of protected works, on the other hand, constitute copyright infringement and can have legal consequences.

New works created with editing rights can - if they are sufficiently individual and unique (level of creation) - themselves be protected by copyright alongside the original work.

Incorporate other OER (images, graphics, music, etc.) into OER videos

When incorporating openly licensed works into an OER video, pay attention to their license. In contrast to enriching a PowerPoint presentation or a text with images, graphics or similar, combining different materials into a video usually results in a derivative work (an independently copyright-protected adaptation). If, for example, the embedded image is licensed with CC BY SA, this affects the derivative work (the video). The video must have the same license as the embedded image, i.e. CC BY SA. If the image is even licensed under CC BY ND or CC BY NC ND, it may not be incorporated into an OER video at all. In this case, editing is prohibited under licensing law. Of course, this only applies if the created video is made publicly accessible.

Apart from that, you may quote from copyrighted works in OER videos, regardless of the license requirements. When incorporating an image into a video, you may be able to invoke the so-called image citation. The scientific quotation, Section 51 (1) sentence 2 no. 1 UrhG, allows you to show entire images in a video if the following conditions are met:

the image has already been published and will not be changed,
the video is an independent scientific work (i.e. a work that methodically deals with something in order to gain knowledge from it and report on it),
the image is recorded to explain the content (e.g. the video would not be understandable without the image) and
A source is given in the video credits.

If the large quotation is not relevant, the requirements for the small quotation, Section 51 (1) sentence 2 no. 2 UrhG can be examined. Whole works may also be quoted in individual cases in accordance with the small quotation if the purpose of the quotation requires this. This is the case if showing individual parts of a work is not sufficient to deal with the content of the work.

The same applies to music. Section 51 para. 1 sentence 2 no. 1 (large scientific quotation) and section 51 para. 1 sentence 2 no. 2 (small quotation) are relevant for quoting other people's pieces of music in a video. § Section 51 para. 1 sentence 2 no. 3 (musical quotation), on the other hand, only applies when a piece of music is incorporated into another piece of music. Due to the strict protection of melodies, you should not quote any musical works in OER in case of doubt.

Further information on incorporating third-party materials into an OER video can be found here: https://irights.info/artikel/kombinieren-bearbeiten-remixen-oer-richtig-verwenden/28560

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