We continue our discussion about fair use, particularly as it relates to documentaries. You will be surprised by what you learn in this episode.
Show regular Yolanda Cochran (who also is a co-producer for the “Breaking the Glass” short film docu-series), showed a lawyer friend our trailer for the series to get his take on our use of movie and television clips. His answer prompted me to do investigative reporting on the topic of fair use. My search leads me to Pat Aufderheide, a research fellow and founder for the Center for Media and Social Impact at American University in Washington, D.C. She and legal scholar Peter Jaszi lead the charge to create the Documentary Filmmakers’ Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use, a simple to read, yet comprehensive report that sets standards for documentary filmmakers to follow in order to stay within the law when employing copyrighted material under Fair Use. In this episode we discuss
- What part of copyright law does fair use fall under
- What are the four common situations in which a documentary filmmaker might utilize fair use
- The surprising origins of the Best Practices document
- Surprising examples of when even music might be deemed fair use
Videos Mentioned in This Episode
Calling All Female Filmmakers
There’s still a chance for all you female filmmakers out there to submit your vignettes to be included in the “Breaking the Glass” docu-series. Deadline has been extended to September 18. Winning entries will get almost $1,000 in prizes from LensProToGo, Song Freedom, Muse Storytelling, and Shane’s Inner Circle. Click here to learn more.
Legally License Music for Your Production
If you need to legally license music for your productions, from every genre (including mainstream music) look no further than Song Freedom. Click here to unlock a one-time Standard Gold Level license worth $30.
Share Your Story with Us
For season 2 of the show, we’re looking for filmmakers with stories about overcoming great challenges to complete their projects. Whether or not you succeeded or failed, if you think there’s a juicy and educational story with sharing, we want to know about it. The first six people we pick will each get a free music license from show sponsor Song Freedom. Just email radiofilmschool@daredreamer.fm and put “My Story” in the subject line.
Reach Out
If you have a question about the movie business you’d like answered, or if you just want to drop us a line to say “Hi”, email us at radiofilmschool@daredreamer.fm. Better yet, use the “Send Voicemail” button at the bottom of our website to leave a voicemail message. Follow Ron on Twitter @DareDreamerFM, or follow the show @RadioFilmSchool. Join the discussion at facebook.com/radiofilmschool.
Music in this Episode
Music was curated from FreeMusicArchive.org. In order of appearance, the music in this episode:
- Fastest Man on Earth by Jahzzar (CC BY-SA)
- Readers! Do You Read? by Chris Zabriskie (CC BY)
- Candlepower by Chris Zabriskie (CC BY)
Click here to learn about Creative Commons licenses and meanings.
