This IS the Avid L2: Re: [Avid-L2] I'm an editor, just shoot me

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Re: [Avid-L2] I'm an editor, just shoot me

But do we really think that cutting two minute trailers down to ten seconds and poring them by the thousands is going to be considered fair use?

What would be the fair use argument? That the editor or website was critiquing the movie? I'd say exploiting.

Sent from my iPhone

On May 27, 2015, at 12:49 AM, 'Eric J. Gleske' eric@gleske.org [Avid-L2] <Avid-L2@yahoogroups.com> wrote:

On May 26, 2015, at 9:13 PM, Steve Hullfish Steve@veralith.com [Avid-L2] typed:
>
> Actually fair use does NOT apply to anyone. The main uses are news, education and criticism. It does NOT apply broadly.

"Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright."

The law is clear, and it clearly does not limit Fair Use to any person or group; the restriction is only on the manner in which the protected work is used. I hate to be that guy, but, "actually" anyone can criticize or comment. That is not a right reserved only to credentialed organizations, or massive news corporations or publishing conglomerates. Actually, anyone can do scholarship and research, they do not need to be on the faculty of a big college or non-profit...and so on down the line.

> I've worked on enough documentaries and needed to show the provenance of material or had broadcasters question the origin of stuff to know that copyright is not nearly that broad.

Consider the list we're on: So have we all. Many of us have also worked in enough classrooms to know where those boundaries are, too (and how folks in what Tom Lehrer called "the 'Ed Biz'" can quite often push the hardest in the wrong direction.)

> Try sticking the Mickey Mouse ears on something and see how far you get.

It worked for Breathed...

Better still, try copying a few lines from a classic Roy Orbison song into a rap song. It worked for Luther Campbell...

Fair Use is perhaps the most misunderstood part of copyright law - and, arguably, one if its most important provisions. I don't know how many of us here are lawyers (I'm not, so don't take any of this as legal advice...), but I'm sure many of us have been through the law department to get an approval at one time or another. In my years of creating and working with copyrighted materials, it always struck me as curious, almost odd, how divergent the opinions of different attorneys can be when applying a Fair Use filter when evaluating a work.

Kindly,

Eric Gleske
Somewhere in Oregon