Encyclopaedia Britannica Educational Corp. v. Crooks

CURTIN, Chief Judge.

This is a copyright infringement action which poses the question of whether an educational cooperative’s large-scale videotape reproduction of copyrighted works originally broadcast and taken from the television airways constitutes fair use under the copyright laws.

Plaintiffs are three profit motivated corporations engaged in the business of producing, acquiring, and licensing educational audiovisual materials. In this case, they are all primarily involved in the production and distribution of educational works which are marketed to educational institutions, related…