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Video Collections
June 2007 browse
New Media Literacy Videos
The Center for Social Media teamed up with MIT’s New Media Literacy project to create three video exemplars with six American University School of Communication students. At the Center, the project was co-lead by SOC’s Maggie Burnette Stogner and CAS’s Celine-Marie Pascale. These exemplars are intended to help educators explore the skills needed to create new media with their students, and to be used as models to help students create their own exemplars. To find out more about MIT’s project, visit their website here.
January 2007 browse
Refrigerator Mothers
Here are examples of choices for fair use or purchasing rights in Kartemquin Films' Refrigerator Mothers.
October 2006 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 2006 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.
August 2006 browse
Making the Music You Want to Hear
This 17 minute documentary takes viewers to three different cities where communities are using media to promote workers rights, empower voters, and fill cracks in the social welfare system.
April 2006 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 2005 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.
February 2005 browse
Making Your Documentary Matter 2005 part 1
The first of an annual producer's workshop was held at the Center for Social Media at American University on February 7, 2005. The workshop was designed to showcase strategies and resources on audience engagement using media. It served to highlight the dynamic and growing use of media as a tool for social outreach.
February 2005 browse
Making Your Documentary Matter 2005 part 2
Cara Mertes, P.O.V. Executive Director, discusses the power of a well-crafted human story that treats people fairly; strong support materials; and feedback in the creation of an effective documentary. She uses Tami Gold and Kelly Anderson’s Every Mother’s Son
to illustrate her points.
Ellen Schneider, Executive Director of Active Voice, uses Carlos Sandoval and Catherine Tambini’s Farmingville to demonstrate how filmmakers can provide guidance to advocates on the power of media use.
Melissa Hook, Deputy Executive Director of the Victim Assistance Legal Organization, discusses her role as National Outreach Coordinator for Sentencing the Victim. She stresses the importance of being aware of turf issues among partner organizations; as well as recognizing opposition.
Video Shorts
April 5 watch · download
Remix Culture (3:51)
There is a ton of new creativity in the user generated space, and much of it builds on unauthorized uses of copyrighted material. In this new era of participatory media, where should we draw the line between infringement and fair use? Take a look at our new video, highlighting some of the ways that existing content is being repurposed. This video is designed to provoke discussion, so please share your thoughts with us on our blog. To download a quicktime version of this video right click here.
August 14 watch · download
Beyond Broadcast: Reinventing Public Media in a Participatory Culture (13:00)
Billed by bloggers as ‘geeks meet wonks,’ Beyond Broadcast was a public conference to explore how traditional public media face a critical and unique opportunity to embrace participatory, web-based media models, such as podcasting, video blogs and social software.
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 9 watch · download
Many to Many (12:40)
New, participatory media are fast becoming a vibrant part of the public media landscape. Filmmaker Martin Lucas presents a short video showing the new and growing promise of the “blogosphere.” This is more than individuals publishing their thoughts, it’s a veritable global, public conversation.
