Documentary

We're looking for your story--by January 30. Have you ever found yourself unable to make the documentary work you wanted to make, because you could not access the copyrighted material you needed? That happens to lots of people who could quote copyrighted material—perhaps a clip from a Hollywood film, perhaps a snatch of music—that is locked up in an encrypted DVD. As you know, breaking code on a DVD violates the law—even when you are trying to access content you have a legal right to!Read more...

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As U.S. documentary filmmakers have increasingly benefited from the copyright doctrine of Fair Use, European documentary filmmakers have cast about for how to similarly benefit. The trouble is, instead of the broad and flexible Fair Use doctrine, the many European nations instead have a variety of specific and inflexible exceptions and limitations. Read more...

In a recent ruling, judge Sidney Stein stated that the filmmakers of Expelled, a film supporting intelligent design, were likely to win a Fair Use claim if Yoko Ono persued her suit against them. The filmmakers used a 15 second clip of John Lennon's song "Imagine" to make a statement on religion in our culture--read the Wall Street Journal's Law Blog entry on the subject: http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2008/06/02/yoko-onos-injunction-request-denied-...
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