[Fmpro] quick "fair use" question

[Rolin Mains]

hey everyone...

this isn't exactly a music question, but so many of you are deep in  
the film industry i thought i would raise this question.  forgive me  
if it has already been answered.

a friend of mine wants to cut into his educational video several  
small clips (less than 90 seconds) from major studio releases (ET, a  
disney cartoon, shawshank redemption, etc).  the video is educational  
in nature i.e., a training video, and he will charge for it  
(potentially around $300-$500).  his organization is a non-profit  
that works solely with other non-profits.

we have seen rejection letters from the likes of disney, fox, and  
others on the internet that typically reject such requests  
wholesale.  my friend insists that "fair use" means he can use the  
clips as long as they are a) less than :90, b) constitute a very  
small part of the vid, and c) are not used to actually entice people  
to buy the vid.

my friend is an attorney (though not practicing) and maintains that  
his use of these film clips would be so small no one would care  
anyway, i.e., the risk is very remote.  my take is that the climate  
is not good for this kind of thing and the risk is larger than  
remote...never mind the questionable ethics of using the clips  
knowing that the studios don't want you to use them.

so my question(s) (and you can answer off-line if you like) just what  
is the risk (remote or not), and does educational use by a non-profit  
get you a free pass in the use of video clips as illustrations.   
(btw, i am also curious if, in addition to actually using the clips,  
if ripping them off the DVD isn't itself a crime.)

thanks in advance,

Rolin Mains
rmains at bellsouth.net

There seem to two kinds of searchers: those who seek to make their  
ego something other than it is, i.e. holy, happy, unselfish (as  
though you could make a fish unfish), and those who understand that  
all such attempts are just gesticulation and play-acting - Fingers  
Pointing Toward the Moon by Wei Wu Wei...