"have put out statements and articles extending fair use WAY past what the law allows"
Well, Denis, I was with you until the above statement. What the law allows in regard to fair use is, as you know, largely untested in the courts (and largely not precisely articulated in the law itself). I know it sounds very Berkelyish, but I've also thought about FU in terms of common sense and fairness. FU claims made in support of screening (or digitizing) whole copyrighted works without permission have always been perplexing (at least to me). While I'll go down fighting for broad interpretations and applications of FU (I DO think media concerns continue to bully the marketplace), I've also continued to keep in mind the original constitutional intent of the copyright law, which was to "To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts." Which means that if the content providers we esteem get screwed over, there may be a hell of a lot less decent content in the future. Gary > Well, actually Jessica, it's the times you did't get worked up that are so > memorable ;-) However, I jest. > > The funny thing is that there are continuous stories of how restrictive > fair > use has become but since the dawn of video and now the internet, there is > far greater use of copyrighted material then ever before (based on far > more > availability) and far greater access to quality public domain footage. So > I > always found Pat's argument (though I've always admired and liked her, so > this is a disagreement, not a judgement on her) similar to the AFI's claim > that 90% of feature silent films are lost today. It's more like 74% and > even > that, is something that can be ALMOST quantified and a report is coming > out > this September in fact. Because there is a finate number of films produced > and released from 1912 to 1929 that can be compared to a list of what > archives and collectors own. However, the use of film footage from the > good > ol' days to now could never be compared because it's incalculable. There's > just no data but I suspect with Youtube and the number of illegal > screenings > of my films, it's much more prevalent today. But back in 1964, there was > already such a long history of fair use in filmmaking (dating back to at > least the early teens), that Jay Leyda wrote a book called Films Begat > Films > solely on films with borrowed footage. > > THAT said, I do agree with Jessica that many groups including the > ALA, Society for Cinema & Media Studies and the International Federation > of > Film Archives (an article stating that archives have the rights to screen > their films without legal permission appeared last year) have put out > statements and articles extending fair use WAY past what the law allows. > The > fact that it's in print bothers me because Thomas Jefferson said that > democracy can only exist in an educated society. (Though, see > http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/transcendentalism/ideas/edhistory.html) The same > with copyright. Not enough people are educated about copyright to be able > to > judge these statements properly. Many of these declarations are similar to > cries that a library will close forever if the city budget isn't passed. > In > fact, in 99.9% of these cases, it's mere threats to get what the library > needs. (Well maybe not in Northvale New Jersey > <http://northvale.bccls.org/>, > but I'm just picking on a neighboring town that did close it's library > this > year.) > > So, in fact, many fair use statements by organizations overstep the > boundaries to get what they want. Those who follow their statements as > gospel without proper knowledge can get in big trouble. > > -- > Best regards, > Dennis Doros > Milestone Film & Video/Milliarium Zero > PO Box 128 > Harrington Park, NJ 07640 > Phone: 201-767-3117 > Fax: 201-767-3035 > email: milefi...@gmail.com > www.milestonefilms.com > www.ontheboweryfilm.com > www.arayafilm.com > www.exilesfilm.com > www.wordisoutmovie.com > www.killerofsheep.com > <http://www.killerofsheep.com> > AMIA Austin 2011: www.amianet.org > Join "Milestone Film" on Facebook! > > Follow Milestone on Twitter! <http://twitter.com/#!/MilestoneFilms> > VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of > issues relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic > control, preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in > libraries and related institutions. It is hoped that the list will serve > as an effective working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel of > communication between libraries,educational institutions, and video > producers and distributors. > Gary Handman Director Media Resources Center Moffitt Library UC Berkeley 510-643-8566 ghand...@library.berkeley.edu http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC "I have always preferred the reflection of life to life itself." --Francois Truffaut VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of issues relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic control, preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in libraries and related institutions. It is hoped that the list will serve as an effective working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel of communication between libraries,educational institutions, and video producers and distributors.
