Fair Use

Chubb has now joined the group of insurers that recognize Fair Use claims for documentary filmmakers. These insurers are depending on the Documentary Filmmakers' Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use to make their judgments (they want a lawyer to verify the filmmaker's decision that the use is within the Statement's principles). This is a big step forward, since for years before the Statement was issued, documentary filmmakers had not been able to get insurance for these Fair Uses.

It was a thrill to participate in the workshop on media literacy and Fair Use at the Beyond Broadcast conference [beyondbroadcast.net] last weekend. Henry Jenkins (MIT), Bryan Baker (Temple U) and I brainstormed with about 25 creative media literacy teachers and makers--media arts center managers, profs, after-school programs leaders, filmmakers, bloggers and more. Bryan is part of a team led by Renee Hobbs [renee.hobbs@temple.edu] at Temple's Media Education Lab. They are exploring just what creative problems media literacy teachers and makers face, given what they understand of the law. Read more...

Now MediaPro has joined AIG as insurance companies using the Documentary Filmmakers Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use as a guideline to accept Fair Use in its errors-and-omissions insurance policies for documentary filmmakers. MediaPro will depend on Stanford Law School's judgment that documentary filmmakers' uses are within the Statement's principles and conditions. This is great news for documentary filmmakers, and provides new opportunities for insurers as well.

A major errors and omissions insurer, National Union, a member company of AIG, is accepting Fair Use claims based on the Documentary Filmmakers’ Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use, when supported by an appropriate lawyer’s letter. This is an extraordinary demonstration of the power of this best-practices approach to making the fair-use option in copyright law useable again. "This is great news," said filmmaker Alex Gibney, who recently got insurance with such claims recognized.Read more...

A recent article details the struggles that Yahoo has faced regarding providing links to archived stories found in a group of Belgian newspapers. The newspapers claim that providing such an archive is an infringement of copyright laws. Read more...