Fair Use & Copyright: Documentary -- Center for Social Media at American University

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Fair use is the right, in some circumstances, to quote copyrighted material without asking permission or paying for it. It is a crucial feature of copyright law and what keeps copyright from being censorship. You can invoke fair use when the value to the public of what you are saying outweighs the cost to the private owner of the copyright.

Publications

Fair Use Frequently Asked Questions

Since the release of The Statement of Best Practices we have received many inquires about fair use. Here are some of our more commonly asked items.

Documentary Filmmakers’ Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use

Documentary filmmakers have created, through their professional associations, a clear, easy to understand statement of fair and reasonable approaches to fair use. Download this useful handbook, written by veteran filmmakers to help other filmmakers understand some instances where using copyrighted material without clearance is considered fair use. Click here for the full report & here for a list of authors and endorsers of the Statement.

Success of the Statement of Best Practices

The Statement has provoked dramatic change in the industry since it was released in November 2005. PBS and ITVS have used the Statement to release programs, and so have cablecasters including IFC. All four of the national errors and omissions insurers now issue fair use coverage routinely, as a result of the Statement.

Expanding User Rights For Documentary Filmmakers

Funded By: Rockefeller Foundation and Grantmakers In Film And Electronic Media

VIEW ALL Fair Use Classroom Tools

Fair Use Language for Course Syllabi[PDF]

In your syllabus, you often have some information on copyright. Here is some language to include in that section, specifically on fair use. This language has been reviewed by lawyers, including law professor Peter Jaszi of American University’s Washington College of Law and Michael Donaldson of Donaldson and Hart law firm, and it has been approved by the University Film and Video Association for use by its members.

Copyright Backgrounder[PDF]

By Michael Donaldson, Esq.
This concise background document describes what copyright is and what can be copyrighted, as well as what material is in the public domain and what is fair useable. Michael Donaldson is an attorney in Los Angeles, many of whose clients are leading documentary filmmakers. His book, Clearance and Copyright (Silman-James Press, October 2003), from which much of this information has been drawn, is widely regarded as a basic text for documentary filmmakers. Donaldson also contributed his expertise to the Documentary Filmmakers’ Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use.

Fair Use Scenarios[PDF]

Here are four scenarios, or hypothetical situations, that a documentary filmmaker might find him or herself facing. The four scenarios are each linked to one of the Statement’s categories. These can be used for classroom discussion, and to inspire you to write other scenarios.

More Information

Fair Use and Best Practices: Surprising Success[PDF]

By Pat Aufderheide and Peter Jaszi
Aufderheide and Jaszi discuss the successes of the Statement of Best Practices in an article published in Intellectual Property Today.

Copyright, Fair Use and Motion Pictures[PDF]

by Peter Jaszi, Washington College of Law, Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property
Motion Pictures and Copyright Discipline

How Documentary Filmmakers Overcame their Fear of Quoting and Learned to Employ Fair Use[PDF]

by Pat Aufderheide
A Tale of Scholarship in Action, this article appeared in the International Journal of Communication, Vol 1 (2007)

How to Find Out What is in the Public Domain[PDF]

Professor Peter Hirtle explains when copyrighted material falls into the public domain.

Fair Use: An Essential Feature of Copyright[PDF]

Hearing testimony by Peter Jaszi explains the legal significance of the doctrine of fair use, for creators, consumers and commerce.

“Yes, You Can!”—Where You Don’t Even Need ‘Fair Use’[PDF]

This helpful guide by Peter Jaszi offers insight into what falls into the category of free use.

Statement of Best Practices FAQ[PDF]

Read a FAQ about the Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use

Untold Stories: Creative Consequences of the Rights Clearance Culture[PDF]

By Pat Aufderheide and Peter Jaszi
The Documentary Filmmakers’ Statement of Best Practices began with a study demonstrating the problems that documentary filmmakers face in getting and controlling rights for their creative work. Here is the 2004 report, funded by the Rockefeller Foundation.

Videos

April 5 watch · download

Remix Culture (3:51)

When is it fair and legal to use other people's copyrighted work to make your own? What's the line between infringement and fair use? Take this tour of remix culture classics, and use the Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Online Video to make your own decisions. Please share your thoughts with us on our blog. To download a quicktime version of this video right click here.

May 1 watch · download

Fair Use and Free Speech (7:15)

Fair Use and Free Speech explains the Documentary Filmmakers' Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use. It shows when and how it is legal to use copyrighted material within a documentary film. It’s a powerful tool for media criticism and freedom of expression. Click here for more background materials.

April 8 watch · download

Stories Untold (7:48)

This short video summarizes the results of a Center study exploring the issues surrounding copyright law and documentary film.

January 3 browse

Refrigerator Mothers

Here are examples of choices for fair use or purchasing rights in Kartemquin Films' Refrigerator Mothers.

October 4 browse

Fair Use and Documentaries in Court

What does the legal record tell us about fair use in documentaries? Not very much, because there have been so few cases—nine since 1996, and only five plaintiffs in total, since two plaintiffs each brought three of the cases. None of the plaintiffs have been motion picture studios or large archives. In most cases, the defendant won. Where the defendant did not win, the defendant had behaved in ways that documentarians who wrote the Documentary Filmmakers’ Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use would not approve.

September 25 browse

UFVA and Center for Social Media Fair Use Contest Winners

UFVA and The CSM are pleased to announce the winners of the Fair Use Contest. The jury celebrates these films as demonstrating a successful good-faith effort to employ fair use. We were pleased that their makers evidently learned from the Documentary Filmmakers' Statement. We were delighted to note that in some cases, they have boldly and usefully extended the concept.

April 10 browse

Examples of Successful Fair Use in Documentary Film

Filmmakers have been successfully employing fair use, even before the Statement of Best Practices clarified their common understandings. Here are some examples of uncontested choices for fair use. They are organized here according to the principles that filmmakers articulated in the Statement, in the categories used in the Statement. These categories are only four of the most common situations for filmmakers; some uses could be hybrid, and others might fall outside these four categories. We welcome more examples at .

November 18 browse

Footage from the ‘Fair Use and Free Speech’ Launch

On November 18, 2005, members representing independent filmmaker professional organizations, media arts organizations, filmmakers and legal scholars gathered at American University to release the Documentary Filmmakers' Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use.

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