Fair Use

Fair use is yet another part of the first amendment that we must fight for. It seems that, more often than not, when someone receives a "remove content" message" they just take the video down, assuming they were in the wrong by putting it up. This may not always be the case however, and it's only by fighting back for our rights regarding fair use that we will be allowed to keep it. Peter Jaszi, who commented in both videos, said it quite clearly in the 'Code of Best Practices in Fair Use' "...like any right, its reality depends on its exercise. We must use it or risk losing it."

When making a video, there are many fine lines that can be crossed regarding fair use. One thing I found interesting is the idea that the new content that I (or anyone else) has created using copyright material can't or shouldn't be targeted at the same audience it was originally intended for. I feel that this is a fairly easy way to decide if fair use protects my video, because it is obvious who I am making a video for and who the original work was produced for. With the example of "Ten Things I Hate About Commandments," the creator wasn't targeting people who sit around watching old classic movies like Ben Hur and The Ten Commandments when he/she made this film; it wasn't a ploy, using that particular material, to lure such viewers to watch his/her creation, and I think that is obvious. Another piece of defense that I personally found intriguing was the fact that I am protected if the material was meant to start a discussion. I would have never anticipated that being a part of fair-use, and it just goes to show how much more fair-use covers than we originally may think.

I don't believe I've ever seen a documentary, or at least not a good documentary, that didn't take clips from here and there to add to the points being made. If fair use didn't exist to say that such copyrighted material can be used as example or illustration, or that it is okay to use as long as it is commenting or critiquing the subject at hand then documentaries would probably be far and few between, with very limited information in those that did exist, as the producers of such film couldn't possibly pay the hefty royalties for the material they would need to make their film what it should/could be.

I came across this, I think, amazing mash-up: Watchmen & WALL-E Mashup Trailer This completely alters the idea of Wall-e, which is a children's movie for all intents and purposes. I was impressed....