January 8, 2008Newsletter

Happy new year! The Center is starting 2008 with a spring semester full of events and new projects. We are thrilled to announce the launch of our new report, Recut, Reframe, Recycle, a first-of-its-kind report on how many uses of copyrighted material in today's online videos are legal under fair use. The report is already receiving considerable read the full report to see what the buzz is about. Report co- authors Pat Aufderheide and Peter Jaszi, of the American University Washington College of Law, were in Las Vegas on Jan. 7 at CES to discuss the report - read more below about the discussion. Also, don't forget to register for the 2008 Making Your Media Matter conference - space is limited! See below for more information on highlights from the agenda, as well as details on our list of other events including free lectures with our visiting filmmakers. Also, we've launched a new Mapping Public Media research initiative - see below for more on our findings. Have a great year!

Registration for the 2008 Making Your Media Matter conference is now open!
Who should come: Established and aspiring filmmakers, non-profit communications leaders, funders and students looking so learn and share cutting-edge practices in creating media that matters for public knowledge and action.

What you'll find: Panel discussions on the latest tools and trends in creating and distributing social issue media; demos of cutting edge practices; networking opportunities; and--yes--free lunch.

Click here to register and learn more - space will fill up quickly!

Special Screening in honor of MLK Day: Wit, Will and Walls
Jan. 23, 2008, 6:00 pm, Wechsler Theater, American University
Betty Kilby was just a young girl when she took the first steps to a lifetime of work in civil rights and justice for African-Americans in this area. Join us to meet the renowned Betty Kilby Fisher and local filmmaker Paulette Moore, and to view Moore's brand- new Wit, Will and Walls: The Betty Kilby Fisher Story. More information about the film can be found here. Visit our website for more details.

Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes - Free Film Screening
Wed., Feb. 6, 5:30 pm, Wechsler Theater, AU campus
HIP-HOP: Beyond Beats and Rhymes, a film by Byron Hurt, takes an in-depth look at representations of manhood, sexism and homophobia in hip-hop culture. This groundbreaking documentary is a "loving critique" of disturbing developments in rap music culture by a fan who challenges the art form's representations of masculinity. Byron Hurt is also an ally of the Center in the good fight to expand fair use rights; Hip Hop reached screens in part because of the Center's fair-use best practices code.

Discussion to follow screening - check out our website for details.

Center welcomes Spring 2008 Visiting Filmmakers
The Center is delighted to welcome this spring several filmmakers whose work exemplifies the best in public media. Mark your calendar, and join us for a series of FREE discussions:

• Jan. 31:Ethics and Aesthetics in Advocacy Documentary, with Arts Engine's Katy Chevigny
• Feb. 21: Telling the Hardest Stories: Lion in the House, with Julia Reichert and Steve Bogner
• March 27: Digital Storytelling, with Center for Digital Storytelling's Stefani Sese
• April 3: Participatory Video for Social Change, with independent filmmaker Deedee Halleck

Visit our website for more information.

Look for the Center at Sundance Festival!
Even as the Sundance Film Festival skyrockets in commercial importance, it maintains mission-driven outposts that make it a must-go place for people making media for public knowledge and action. The Filmmaker Lodge's Outreach Table is a gathering spot for the nonprofit public media types, and the Center will be there between Jan. 18-22. The Filmmakers' Lodge is where some of the most interesting panels happen, too. Come by and pick up a Center for Social Media pen!

New Center Initiative Explores Mapping Public Media
How can media-makers, researchers and funders recognize and understand public media in a participatory, digital era? The goal of the Center for Social Media's Mapping Public Media initiative-funded by a grant from the Ford Foundation-is to reveal the resources and connections that sustain this active, productive, but rarely visible world devoted to helping audiences recognize themselves as publics and act from that knowledge.

The initiative's analysis contrasts two research methods-case studies by CSM fellows and Web network mapping by the Amsterdam-based Govcom.org Foundation-to examine three innovative public media projects. The findings suggest both distinct characteristics shared by public media, and multiple arenas for future research. Read more.

Ford Foundation Public Media Grantees Driving Innovation in the New Year
With the start of the new year, the Ford Foundation's Future of Public Media Initiative grantees, an alliance of leading nonprofits, continue with the work and initiatives that shape the face of public media for the future. PRX has a new site for youth radio groups; Link TV launched the One Nation Online Film Contest, bridging differences and challenging stereotypes in America; PBS programming introduces interactive, innovative election coverage. Read more about the ground- breaking work of others in the group.

Some thoughts on public media in the new year
Read as Center Research Director Jessica Clark "scrolls through a backlog of 'best of 2007' posts" in her Google Reader to discover a piece that reveals the role that public and participatory media will play in the coming year. Read more>>.

Center's New Study Shows Mashups and Remixes Could Be Using Copyrighted Material Lawfully
When college kids make mashups of Hollywood movies, are they violating the law? Not necessarily, according to Recut, Reframe, Recyle, a new study co-written by Pat Aufderheide and Peter Jaszi, co-director of the law school's Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property. many uses of copyrighted material in today's online videos are eligible for fair use consideration. The study points to a wide variety of practices-satire, parody, negative and positive commentary, discussion-triggers, illustration, diaries, archiving and of course, pastiche or collage (remixes and mashups)-all of which could be legal in some circumstances. Read more>>

Click here to read the full report.

Center presents findings from new report at CES on Jan. 7 in Las Vegas!
At the Consumer Electronics Show, Center director Pat Aufderheide and law professor Peter Jaszi, who directs the Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property in the Washington College of Law, spoke about online video and copyright in a panel discussion on digital rights management. Read Pat Aufderheide's account of the discussion that followed the release of the new report, Recut, Reframe, Recycle.

UFVA Fair Use & Free Speech Contest - $500 for best fair use!
The Center is collaborating with UFVA on a contest for the best short documentaries employing fair use, made by higher education students and faculty. Click here for more information and to download a submission form. The deadline is May 1, 2008.

Want your questions on Fair Use Answered?? Check out the new Fair Use FAQ!
Due to the overwhelming number of inquires about our work on fair use and the Statement of Best Practices, we have compiled a list of our most frequently asked questions. In addition, we hope to share a new question with you every month via our fair use blog. This month's question is about fair use and access to footage. Check it out!

New Center report reveals copyright confusion hurts students, teachers and learning
The Cost of Copyright Confusion for Media Literacy, based on scores of longform interviews with teachers, shows that the fundamental goals of media literacy education-to cultivate critical thinking and expression about media and its social role-are compromised by unnecessary copyright restrictions. As a result of poor guidance, counterproductive guidelines, and fear, teachers use less effective teaching techniques, teach and transmit erroneous copyright information, fail to share innovative instructional approaches, and do not take advantage of new digital platforms.

This is not only unfortunate but unnecessary, since copyright law permits a wide range of uses of copyrighted material without permission or payment. However, educators today have no consensus around what constitutes acceptable fair use practices. The report concludes with a call for educators to develop a consensus around their interpretation of their most valuable copyright tool: fair use. Read more about the report and launch event>>

Most Influential Media Writing of 2007
Read this insightful list by media blogger John Bracken on the works that shaped and redefined the work and role of public media in today's society.

2008 Flaherty Film Seminar, "The Age of Migration":
From the urban landscapes of Asia, to the conflict zones of the Middle East, to the multi-cultural societies of Europe, the United States and beyond, unprecedented migrations of exiles, soldiers, laborers, and adoptees intersect with the legacies of war, global capital, and terror. Curated by Chi-hui Yang, director of the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, the 2008 Flaherty Seminar will probe how hybrid documentaries, video blogs, and speculative histories have become connective tissues which collapse physical distances and accentuate emotional connections. We hope you can join us as we map these modern migration patterns and explore the relationship between conflict, movement and transmission. Click here for more information.

Docs in Progress and NomadsLand sponsoring documentary competition
Docs in Progress and NomadsLand are partnering to curate a special virtual work-in-progress competition for short and feature documentaries from around the world which are seeking to gain valuable feedback at the rough cut stage of the editing process. Between now and January 15, 2008 (extended from original deadline of January 4), filmmakers can upload a 10-minute segment of their documentary rough cut to Nomadsland.com. More information here.

Working Films Residency at MASS MoCA
Working Films is accepting applications for its five- day residency for documentary filmmakers at MASS MoCA. The residency, which is called the Content + Intent Documentary Institute, will take place March 12- 16, 2008 in North Adams, MA. Applications for admission to the Institute may be found online at www.workingfilms.org (or you can contact Anna Lee at alee@workingfilms.org). The application deadline is January 25, 2008.