[Fmpro] film use related question

[kirbyko3@aol.com]

I'm afraid your friend is very off-base about what constitutes a fair use.  But the bigger question is, why would he think that he's entitled to use other peoples' copyrighted materials in his money-making endeavor, without compensating them for their contribution to it? Clearly those clips have value if he feels so compelled to include them in his production.
 
On the practical side, one single claim from a studio on a commercial product could probably be enough to wipe out any small-scale non-profit organization.  It's unwise from any perspective.  "I can't afford the clips" isn't a reason to steal them.  And "seeing letters on the internet where studios have rejected these types of requests" isn't a reason to NOT approach them for permission.   These reasons, and his fair-use reasoning, are up there with the "four measure rule" (you can use four measures of any song without having to pay for it) as biggest myths in the entertainment industry.
 
Baaaaaaaaaaaad idea!
 
Kerry
 
 
-----Original Message-----
From: rmains at bellsouth.net
To: FMPRO at nxport.com
Sent: Thu, 15 Mar 2007 12:28 PM
Subject: [Fmpro] film use related question


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
615.504.0374 (cell)
"Many musicians do not consider George Gershwin to be a serious  
composer. But they should understand that, serious or not, he is a  
composer, that is, a man who lives in music and expresses  
everything...by means of music, because it is his native language.  
There are a number of composers, serious or not, who learned to add  
notes together. But they are only serious on account of a perfect  
lack of humor and soul."  Arnold Schoenberg, 1938




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