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The Center for Social Media showcases and analyzes strategies to use media as creative tools for public knowledge and action. It focuses on social documentaries for civil society and democracy, and on the public media environment that supports them. The Center is part of the School of Communication at American University.

View All Posts News from the Future of Public Media

Blogosphere Blasts the Bailout Bill

Posted by Micael Bogar on Oct 3, 2008

So, it’s official, the House passed the bailout. It’s also official that the financial crisis has generated a groundswell of public media responses. These have ranged widely, from citizen initiatives to professionally produced tools from commercial outlets. According to Micah Siftry of the Personal Democracy Forum, the networked public sphere is rising and taking this bull by the horns. “Whatever happens with the bailout bill, I don’t think this genie can be stuffed back into the bottle. An old way… more

 

Other recent posts:

Fair Use Question of the Month: Do Cable and the Networks Even Accept Fair Use?

QUESTION Dear CSM: If a filmmaker claims fair use for some material, what is the current state of affairs at the various broadcast/cable/satellite outfits on… more

Live from Main Street: Independent outlets band together to hone in on election issues

Flip to a primetime news show or crack open a newspaper and chances are you’ll see a variation on the day’s news story surrounding the… more

Innovation in Focus: Link TV’s What Change Looks Like

As the November 4th presidential election date nears, candidates on both sides have made a call for change their rallying cry. With gas prices going… more

view all CSM Feature

2008 Human Rights Film Series

Oct. 15 - Nov. 14, Wechsler Theater, 5:30 PM and WCL 6:00 pm

A Look At Human Rights In The U.S.

October 15 - November 13, 2008

Our 9th Annual Human Rights Film Series showcases films that show how film and video can make a difference for human rights. Discussions with expert speakers and award-winning filmmakers follow all screenings.

All screenings are FREE and open to the public.

Banished
Directed by Marco Williams (2007, 87 min.)
October 15, 2008, 6 pm, WCL
October 16, 2008, 5:30 pm, Wechsler Theatre

Ballad of Esequiel Hernandez
Directed by Kieran Fitzgerald (2007, 90 min.)
Co-sponsored by P.O.V..
October 22, 2008, 6 pm, WCL
October 23, 2008, 5:30 pm, Wechsler Theatre

At the Death House Door
Directed by Peter Gilbert & Steven James (2008, 98 min.)
October 29, 2008, 6 pm, WCL
October 30, 2008, 5:30 pm, Wechsler Theatre

Special Event: Three Years After Katrina - A week of events exploring the Gulf coast recovery

Film Screening: Cut Off
Directed by Broderick Webb and Edward Holub (30 min., 2008 )
WCL Nov. 12 @ 6 pm

Film Screening: When the Levees Broke
Directed by Spike Lee (2006, 64 min.) AU Nov. 13 @ 5:30 pm

National FEMA Trailer Tour
Learn first-hand about living conditions in the Gulf region, post-Katrina and the ongoing crisis in the region. How are leaders working to meet the needs of its poor and minority residents? Stay tuned for more info on the trailer’s visit to AU.

Additional events are in the planning stage. Please check the web for info on additional events taking place throughout the week.

Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Online Video

This document is a code of best practices that helps creators, online providers, copyright holders, and others interested in the making of online video interpret the copyright doctrine of fair use. Fair use is the right to use copyrighted material without permission or payment under some circumstances.

This is a guide to current acceptable practices, drawing on the actual activities of creators, as discussed among other places in the study Recut, Reframe, Recycle: Quoting Copyrighted Material in User-Generated Video and backed by the judgment of a national panel of experts. It also draws, by way of analogy, upon the professional judgment and experience of documentary filmmakers, whose own code of best practices has been recognized throughout the film and television businesses.