Legal issues / releases / etc. for documentary

[David Tamés]

Originally Posted by Greg Quinn

[...] <boorish_rant>
I'm somewhat at a loss to explain the number of posts I see from people mentioning "Fair Use" of copyrighted material as a legit excuse for not dealing with a copyright owner [...]
</boorish_rant>

Yes, there's a lot of misunderstanding and false notions out there regarding the concept of "fair use" in copyright law. That's why the American Center for Social Media has published a wide range of resources on this issue, including the FAQ I mentioned above: Fair Use Frequently Asked Questions -- Publications -- Center for Social Media at American University and more recently, they've published "Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Online Video" available at Online Video Resources -- Center for Social Media at American University which is along the lines of their highly respected ""Documentary Filmmakers' Statement of Best Practices In Fair Use."

I hope you did not take my post to imply that fair use is a way to use stuff without permission. But there are provisions in copyright law, a body of case law, and best practices in several industries, that together provide guidelines about when it might be legitimate to "quote" other people's media in you own work. Any discussion of fair use should start with the American Center for Social Media's resource pages. Their documents are widely used and respected by both content users and content owners.

[Tim Polster]

This forum helps a lot with this situation.

There is so much cloked in secrecy about copywrite that one really has to look for an explainantion.

The general lack of information out there about what you can not do implies that one can do a lot of violations, until one is educated.

[Dave Blackhurst]

Originally Posted by Tim Polster

This forum helps a lot with this situation.

There is so much cloked in secrecy about copywrite that one really has to look for an explainantion.

The general lack of information out there about what you can not do implies that one can do a lot of violations, until one is educated.

Unfortunately, education can in theory be expensive... if it results in litigation. A good rule is if there's going to be money involved in any way... you really should get clearances. Or if it's going to broadcast...

[David Tamés]

Originally Posted by Dave Blackhurst

[...] you really should get clearances. Or if it's going to broadcast...

When you can get them, yes, it's a good idea, but one reason the Center for Social Media has worked to both educate people and document best practices is that sometimes media makers need to be able to use media without permission, and there are clear and well understood best practices in the field of documentary filmmaking. One should always seek legal advice, but one should not assume you have to get clearance for everything. There are best practices for this. If we were unable to quote media for critical analysis and educational use, media owners could completely choke public discourse and control the free exchange of information, especially critical information. The original intent of copyright law was to provide a limited monopoly. Today, the time limits are so long, that fair use becomes more and more important. At the risk of starting an off-topic debate, I suggest reading Lawrence Lessig's blogs and books (see http://www.lessig.org/blog/) for a philosophical perspective. For industry best practices however, the documents and educational materials from the Center for Social Media are the best place to start.

[Greg Quinn]

Originally Posted by Dave Blackhurst

Unfortunately, education can in theory be expensive...

Ditto that. Unfortunately, this ends up not being a philosophical argument, but a legal one. It's gotten to the stage where I wish that there was a forum filter that blocked posts that include the expression "fair use"! Unless you're making a home movie, assume the use of any copyrighted material will need to be formally dealt with (that often, but not always, will involve a payment), or make sure that you have an intellectual property lawyer/trial attorney in the family, or have unlimited deep pockets to pay for legal representation.

Forum members should be very careful in pointing newby's to subjective interpretations of "fair use" arguments in using copyrighted or protected material. I'd argue a more useful subject view of Fair Use can be found here:
CSPD Zoomed Comic

Greg

[Steve Sprague]

Originally Posted by Douglas Spotted Eagle

You can download releases from the Sundance site if you wish...both for profit and not for profit.

Can you post a link to this? I checked Sundance.org and didnt see anything. Im interested in knowing what would be required with a release doing a documentary. I guess Im wondering if I need to have my subjects that I interview, sign anything and if so, what.

Thanks!

Steve