SCREEN-L Archives

February 2003, Week 1

SCREEN-L@LISTSERV.UA.EDU

Options: Use Monospaced Font
Show Text Part by Default
Show All Mail Headers

Message: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Topic: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Author: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]

Print Reply
Subject:
From:
Jeremy Butler <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Thu, 6 Feb 2003 08:39:04 -0600
Content-Type:
text/plain
Parts/Attachments:
text/plain (116 lines)
If I may add to Lisa's comments:

1.  I haven't talked to Kristin Thompson about this recently, but, in the
past, she has reported that she and David Bordwell (and McGraw-Hill) have
never been sued for the hundreds of frame grabs in FILM ART, which is about
to enter its seventh (!) edition.

It should be noted, however, that FILM ART relies mostly on frame grabs
(images made from film prints) and NOT production stills (still photos
taken on the set).  The latter have copyright protections like most
photographs.

2.  A recent interview with Jack Valenti, head of the MPAA, in the Harvard
Political Review had some interesting remarks relative to fair use--one
good, the other very bad.

http://www.hpronline.org/news/347207.html?mkey=628413

The good:

"Right now, any professor can show a complete movie in his classroom
without paying a dime--that's fair use."

Interesting that he would say this because 16mm distributors denied that
this was true in the 1980s when professors began showing videotapes in classes.

The very bad:

"What is fair use? Fair use is not a law. There's nothing in law."

Evidently, Valenti has forgotten about (decided to ignore?)  Title 17,
Chapter 1, Section 107 "Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use" of US Code:

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. In determining whether the use made of a work in any
particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include -

(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of
a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;

(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;

(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the
copyrighted work as a whole; and

(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the
copyrighted work.

The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair
use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors

http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#107

>Date:    Wed, 5 Feb 2003 16:36:15 -0800
>From:    Lisa Kernan <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re: Copyright for Film Stills
>MIME-Version: 1.0
>Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII
>
>
>Hi,
>The Society for Cinema and Media Studies has an online publication,
>"Fair Usage Publication of Film Stills" by Kristin Thompson, which,
>with the appropriate caveats (that they list on the page), can be used
>as a guideline for this.
>
>http://www.cinemastudies.org/CJdocs/Thompson.htm
>Cheers,
>Lisa
>
>On Wed, 5 Feb 2003 14:37:49 -0500 "Pizzato, Mark"
><[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> > Does anyone know of cases where authors of academic books (monographs, not
> > textbooks) were sued by film companies for using photo stills as
> > illustrations without written permission?
> >
> > Or does "fair use" cover that--along with their use in periodical articles?
> >
> > What is the current risk in using production photos from films, as academic
> > book illustrations, without permission?
> >
> > mp
> >
> > Mark Pizzato, PhD
> > Assoc. Prof. of Theatre
> > Dept. of Dance and Theatre
> > UNC-Charlotte
> > Charlotte, NC 28223
> > fax: 704-687-3795
> > phone: 704-687-4488
>
>
>==========================================
>Lisa D. Kernan, Ph.D.
>Arts Librarian for Film, Television and Theater
>[log in to unmask]
>(310) 206-4823




Jeremy Butler
[log in to unmask]
========================================================
TELEVISION: CRITICAL METHODS AND APPLICATIONS
www.TVCrit.com

----
For past messages, visit the Screen-L Archives:
http://bama.ua.edu/archives/screen-l.html

ATOM RSS1 RSS2