Fair Use

We're proud to announce the release of our new report Honest Truths: Documentary Filmmakers on Ethical Challenges in Their Work at www.centerforsocialmedia.org/ethics. It's also being showcased on a panel at the Toronto International Film Festival's first documentary conference, on Sept. 13, 2009.Read more...

I just got back from the annual University Film and Video Association (UFVA) conference in New Orleans. Although the association and the conference are generally for university professors who are teaching film and video production classes, the Center for Social Media has long been active with the UFVA, as we develop resources that can help filmmakers and teachers of filmmaking. Read more...

Tipped off by copyright lawyer Michael Madison, I took a look at this brilliant little video posted on YouTube. It's a video time travel through the origins of the Michael Jackson moonwalk, reminding us of the collaborative nature of creativity and the way in which we all--yes, even Michael Jackson--stand on the shoulders of giants. Each clip has its own copyright story, but all are great examples of transformative purpose. Read more...

The SILVERDOCS conference now has a thriving strand of panels directed at teachers who use audio-visual material in the classroom and who work with kids who make video. One of their biggest headaches is understanding their rights under copyright. Can students upload their videos to YouTube? Are they permitted to clip out material from commercial (and encrypted) DVDs? Can teachers post clips onto their electronic teaching platforms? Read more...

Copyright protectionists decry copying as theft and plagiarism--and let's just acknowledge here that sometimes it is. (Copying a work and re-using it for its original market purpose and not paying the owner what he or she is selling or renting it for is wrong.) The well-funded efforts of copyright owners' organizations to promote this message, though, has thoroughly confused many people about their Fair Use rights. In many situations, including making new work and analyzing or critiquing existing work, people in the U.S. Read more...