Tag: Fair Use

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Truly Free Film

The Really Good Things In FilmBiz 2014

Let's look at the bright side!
Let’s look at the bright side!

Some rituals help keep us focused throughout the year. This marks the 4th time I have looked back at all the good things that occurred in the film biz and listed them out for all of us. Tracking them through year, keeps me from abandoning hope. Sometimes they may just be the silver lining in the storm cloud, but nonetheless they keep me going, keep me convinced that in fact we truly are: building it better together. I hope they do something close to that for you. It’s been a good year, and I have thirty two morsels to tempt you with. And of course the year’s not through yet, so perhaps you have some to add to this too. 

If you’ve encountered elements of this list earlier on my postings in Film Comment and on Keyframe, pay careful attention as I have weaved some new points into all for your reading pleasure. And if you like a little of the bitter to wash down the sweet, don’t forget the list of 30 Bad Things In 2014’s Film Biz here.

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Truly Free Film

Influence The Rules That Will Influence You

Copyright law, net neutrality, media consolidation, fair use, antitrust, DMCA — you have to not just know these, but know how you can influence the rules that influence you. Ultimately, it’s not just the laws that set the rules; it’s also the technology.  The good news is that history has shown that the community, particularly when they find the right leaders, can truly make change happen.

This episode of ReInvent Hollywood has it all:

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Truly Free Film

What Issues Do Filmmakers Need To Track?

If filmmakers don't track core issues, they will find their form abandoned in the parking lotA creative life is a precarious thing.  Actions occur that could profoundly effect your ability to earn a living doing what you love.  We get blindsided again and again, sometimes not recognizing things until they are too late to alter them.  It’s one of the reasons I have tried to meticulously track for you what are the good thing and bad things happening in indie film these days.  Yet, it seems to me we all need to do a better job of tracking them if we don’t want to get trapped in a future we won’t be part of..

My thought is that we should be able to define a series of issues in which we can put events, ideas, and articles into as they occur, helping each other stay on top of them. 

The first step is to define the issues.  That is what I am doing today .

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These Are Those Things Truly Free Film

“Cinema Is The Ultimate Pervert Art”

‘Cinema is the ultimate pervert art. It doesn’t give you what you desire – it tells you how to desire’ – Slavoj Zizek

I want a third pill! A pill that would enable that would enable me to perceive the reality within illusion itself!

Buy the DVD here.  You deserve it.

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Issues and Actions Truly Free Film

“a great day for documentary filmmaking & for the future of books”

Variety recently reported:

“Documentary filmmakers have won a ruling from the U.S. Copyright Office that allows them to legally break the encryption codes of DVDs and online streaming content to obtain clips for their projects.

The material still must fall under the “fair use” exemption of copyright law, but the decision by Register of Copyrights Maria A. Pallante was hailed as a victory for non-fiction filmmakers seeking high-quality clips for their movies. The decision also allows educators and multimedia e-book authors, as well as makers of non-commercial videos, to circumvent copy-protection software to obtain such clips, although the use has to be limited in scope.” (Read the whole article)

I have long dreamed of a day when I have a wealth of titles akin to Adam Curtis’s THE POWER OF NIGHTMARES and Sophie Fiennes’ THE PERVERTS GUIDE TO CINEMA.  I love video essays and could appreciate a whole lot more of them.

Culture is built upon itself.  We need to be able to remix it.  It just can’t be taken — we need to use it to add to the dialogue.  We return value when we use it fairly.

Although this ruling doesn’t advance Fair Use, at least it gets rid of a substantial barrier.

 

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Issues and Actions

What’s The Legality Of Re-blogging?

The LA Times cautions you to “Reblog this at your own legal risk“.

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Issues and Actions

Dancing Baby Expands Fair Use

Mark Hefflinger at Digital Media Wire reports:

A federal judge ruled on Wednesday that copyright holders must consider the potential “fair use” of their works before sending copyright takedown notices to online video sites. “In order for a copyright owner to proceed under the DMCA with ‘a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law,’ the owner must evaluate whether the material makes fair use of the copyright,” U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel wrote, in his ruling.

This is a great mandate and clearer definition.  As you listen to “Let’s Go Crazy” on the clip, it is clearly in the background and not added later.  It’s documenting a moment. This is that baby and his dance that we can all thank for it: