August 1, 2007Newsletter

It's hard to believe that summer is almost over - the Center is looking forward to an exciting Fall season full of great events. Check out our film lineup for the 8th Annual Human Rights Film Series. This year, we welcome visiting filmmaker Liz Garbus, whose latest film, Ghosts of Abu Ghraib we'll be screening as part of the Film Series Special Event. We're also excited at the news that all major insurers now accept fair use claims! - see below for more information. Check out our Future of Public Media and Copyright and Fair Use blogs for the latest news. Enjoy these remaining weeks of summer!

2007 Human Rights Film Series
October 3 - November 8, 2007

Our 8th Annual Human Rights Film Series showcases films that show how film and video can make a difference for human rights. Discussions with expert speakers follow all screenings.

Screenings will take place at the WCL campus and AU's Wechsler theater.

Visit our website for film synopses and full event details!

Encounter Point
WCL Oct 3 @ 6:00
AU Oct 4 @ 5:30

Devil's Miner
WCL Oct 17 @ 6:00
AU Oct 18 @ 5:30

Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars
WCL Oct 24 @ 6:00
AU Nov 1 @ 5:30
Nov. 1 SPECIAL EVENT--Reception to celebrate the 20th anniversary of public TV series P.O.V. with P.O.V.'s Simon Kilmurry and special friends from all over public broadcasting! FREE

Ghosts of Abu Ghraib
Katzen Arts Center Nov 8 @ 5:30

SPECIAL EVENT - Human Rights in a Time of War

An Evening with Ghosts of Abu Ghraib Award-Winning Producer Liz Garbus

Nov. 8
5:30-8:00 pm
Katzen Arts Center, AU, 4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW

Part of the 2007 Human Rights Film Series

Join us for a powerful evening as Fall 2007 Visiting Filmmaker Liz Garbus shares her experiences as a pioneer of human rights filmmaking and answers your questions about the making of this provocative film. This event takes place against the backdrop of Fernando Botero's startlingly barbaric exhibit, Botero: Abu Ghraib. Cost: FREE

New report shows how public radio stations use social media
Our new report, Public Radio's Social Media Experiments: Risk, Opportunity, Challenge, analyzes the results of a survey of public radio stations and highlights the successes and challenges of integrating new social media tools into the mission of public radio. The report, co- sponsored by PRX, also provides best practices on successfully using social media tools. Read more>>

Public Media Mapping initiative to be featured in upcoming book
Center research will be featured in an upcoming book titled 'Participation and media production. Critical reflections on content creation'. Director Patricia Aufderheide and Center research fellow Katja Wittke co-authored a book-chapter on "Mapping Publics and Issues of The War Tapes: Claims and Connections online" (Cambridge Scholars Publishers).

Alternative video games as public media??
Read the latest blog entry by Center Research Director Jessica Clark. She discusses World Without Oil, an alternative reality game (ARG) sponsored by ITVS. Read more on the Future of Public Media blog.

GreenCode Project - Make media with no impact??!!
If you attended SILVERDOCS this year, chances are you went home with a green pin imploring filmmakers to make media with no impact. While this may seem counter to every other media-making session you've attended, the greencodeproject folks are actually onto something. Greencodeproject encourages filmmakers to adopt simple codes of practice that will be instrumental in reducing the industry's environmental footprint. Read more>>

Mobilized! Mobile Media and Public Life
Center Fellow Martin Lucas reports on the Mobilized! conference, co-sponsored by CUNYcolab and the Center for Social Media. Mobilized!, brought together artists, designers, software developers and others interested in mobile media on May 5th and 6th, 2007, to learn more about how new mobile communications platforms are rapidly changing public space and social interaction. Read more>>

News from SILVERDOCS: Ted Leonsis on Filmanthropy Center Fellow Neil Sieling shares the insights of the AOL executive on how to use Web 2.0 to fuel media that matters. Re ad more>>

Filmanthropy: Facilitating Creative and Strategic Partnerships
SILVERDOCS partnered with AU's Institute for Strategic Communication for Nonprofits on a day- long workshop to connect filmmakers with leaders in the non-profit world. Read more>>

What's Filmanthropy? Read the report to learn more!
Learn more about this collaboration between non-profits and doc filmmakers by reading the report on the gathering.

Major insurers all accept Fair Use!
Fair Use claims are now accepted by the four major U.S. insurance companies for errors-and-omissions insurance of fair use claims (AIG, MediaPro, ChubbPro, and OneBeacon). The companies' acceptance of these claims is perhaps the best gauge of the adoption of fair use in general, and the Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use in particular, since insurance companies are both the ultimate gatekeepers for television documentary and also historically cautious to adopt practices that involve risk. Major insurers are now newly interested in projects relying on fair use, with all requiring a legal letter of opinion about its principles. The Statement made such a letter of opinion far easier to write than ever before and has opened the doors for documentary filmmakers to make possible more and better documentary work, all without jeopardizing the strength of copyright ownership.

New Copyright and Fair Use Project Announced!
American University's Center for Social Media and Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property are undertaking a multifaceted project. "Copyright and Fair Use in Participatory Media," to promote standards for the use of copyrighted materials in user-generated media that is broadcast over the internet. This project, supported by the Ford Foundation, follows CSM and PIJIP's path- breaking convening in April, "Unauthorized," about the implications of copyright law for makers and hosts of participatory video, and builds on the two organizations' success in helping to establish "best practices" for fair use by documentary filmmakers. Read all the details here, in our Copyright and Fair Use blog.

The Center for Social Media at UFVA
The Center's Maura Ugarte will be attending this year's UFVA conference taking place in Denton, Texas from August 7 through the 11th. She will be hosting a lunch and discussion on incorporating fair use best practices into the classroom. Maura will also be on the panel, Copyright and Fair Use: Teachers as Makers, showcasing the successes of the Documentary Filmmakers' Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use. Hope to see you there!

Sign up for ITVS Community Cinema-DC!
If you enjoyed [ITVS] Community Cinema-DC films like "Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes" and "The World According to Sesame Street" at Busboys and Poets and other venues around the city, stay up-to- date. Subscribe to Community Cinema's monthly e- Bulletin for screenings featuring the latest docs from the ITVS "Independent Lens" series. CLICK on the link below and follow the instructions to subscribe.

The new season of [ITVS] Community Cinema begins September 2007. Be one of the first to get a complete list of the entire 2007-2008 season available to e- Bulletin subscribers.

Check out Alagados, a new film by AU MFA grad Sylvia Johnson.
Alagados is a documentary film and photography initiative that aims to increase access to voice from a marginalized community in Salvador, Brazil. Check out the trailer and photography on the film's website.

ACLU Stand Up For Freedom Contest
Submit your Podcast or PSA!
Deadline Extended to October 4!!!
submit a 3-5 minute podcast or a 30-second PSA on government surveillance, free speech or due process rights. Prizes include $2,000 for Best PSA and $1,000 for Best Podcast with additional awards for originality, production and humor.

Click here for more information. Or contact 212.997.0505 ext 218 or email info@zilo.com.