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Publications
Documentary Filmmakers’ Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use
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Documentary filmmakers have created, through their professional associations, a clear, easy to understand statement of fair and reasonable approaches to fair use. 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. In fact, it is 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.
Click here to 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.
Statement Authors
- Association of Independent Video and Filmmakers
- Independent Feature Project
- International Documentary Association
- National Alliance for Media Arts and Culture
- Women in Film & Video (Washington, D.C., chapter)
Statement Endorsers
- Arts Engine
- Bay Area Video Coalition
- CINE
- Doculink
- Electronic Arts Intermix
- Full Frame Festival
- Independent Television Service
- Joost
- Kartemquin Films
- National Video Resources
- P.O.V./American Documentary
- University Film and Video Association
- Video Association of Dallas
- Women Make Movies
- Video Association of Dallas
Discussion
I’d love to interview someone on the subject and the production of the guide on Creative Planet’s Digital Production BuZZ. I am the managing editor.
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Posted by BuZZmeister on Feb 23, 2007 at 7:37 PM
Hello and thanks for this. Can I use drive-by video clips (I’ll shoot this myself) of billboards advertising various products as an example of advertising in America? Avg clip would be about 7 seconds on each billboard. Also, can I use photos (not my own) of famous personalities, some living and some dead, for about 7 seconds each as examples of famous couples, sports stars, politicians in the modern world? (My documentary is a comparison between life & culture in the ancient world of Pompeii,Italy, and life & culture in the modern world.) Please advise, and thanks again.
Suzette Kitselman
Inspired Entertainment
310-396-3802
Posted by SuzetteKitselman on May 8, 2007 at 10:56 AM
I’m working on a music video project that involves book covers. This will be for promotional purposes and the content will be downloadable, although I might make the song commercially available, either as a digital download or a full CD. The covers are presented as is, with the purpose of educating viewers that they were favorites of a friend of mine, whom the song is about. Is this fair ues?
Posted by Alfred Anthony on Oct 29, 2009 at 2:38 AM
Thank you for these comments! I see that we didn’t make public our comments on Suzette’s request. For both Suzette and Alfred, we note that we can’t tell anyone whether their use is fair. We’re not lawyers, and fair use is a judgment call that you need to be comfortable with. But that said, please note that the terms of the Statement are extremely easy to use. You simply need to apply them to your situation. In both these cases, the creators need to look at their use in context, and ask whether 1) the original purpose of the copyrighted content has been repurposed or “transformed” (used for a different reason), and 2) if only the amount that is necessary to satisfy that new purpose is used. Specific amounts of time are irrelevant; the amount is related to the transformed use. Good luck!