<Concerned about Viacom’s knowing all and taking all? Arm yourself with information that could render that a moot point. The Center for Social Media has a document that can help you navigate the FairUse dispute regarding the use of copyright material
From the Introduction:
.This document is a code of best practices that helps creators, online providers, copyright holders, and others interested in the making of online video interpret the copyright doctrine of fair use. Fair use is the right to use copyrighted material without permission or payment under some circumstances.
This is a guide to current acceptable practices, drawing on the actual activities of creators, as discussed among other places in the study Recut, Reframe, Recycle: Quoting Copyrighted Material in User-Generated Video[1]and backed by the judgment of a national panel of experts. It also draws, by way of analogy, upon the professional judgment and experience of documentary filmmakers, whose own code of best practices has been recognized throughout the film and television businesses.
The document does not codify “Fair USe”
When you create a fanvid or mashup, to fall under Fair Use, the work must answer two (2) key questions:
* Did the unlicensed use “transform” the material taken from the copyrighted work by using it for a different purpose than that of the original, or did it just repeat the work for the same intent and value as the original? * Was the material taken appropriate in kind and amount, considering the nature of the copyrighted work and of the use?
In the case of a fanvid, this can be tricky. how long a clip is Fair Use? I have videos that are acceptable for Youtube and some that are not I presume due to the length of the clips I used in order to get the point made. A prime example of Fair Use is the Make McCain Exicting Challenge over at The Colbert Report.
The document, available as in PDF, lists several BEST PRACTICES for the use of copyrighted material/
Remix Culture
Notes
[1]When college kids make mashups of Hollywood movies, are they violating the law? Not necessarily, according to the latest study on copyright and creativity from the Center and American University’s Washington College of Law.
A lot has been said regarding the return of TheA Daily Show with John Stewart and the ColberT ReporT and alot of it is quite ugly. First, some basic lessons in the Language of the Strike:
Scab = A SCAB originally referred to the non-union, lower skilled individual who will cross the picket line because a slightly higher wage has been dangled before them. Think the SAG/AFTRA Contract strike and the DELL Dude. yeah, apparently SAG let him in anyway.
Strikebreaker = refers to a union member who crosses a picket line.
I support the WGA in their quest for equity, and yet, I know that both men crossed to save the jobs of nearly 400 non-writing employees. To hear some WGA members, these lost jobs are just part of doing business. Then there is the dilemma of their contracts as members of AFTRA, of which Comedy Central is a signatory. There is a “No Strike” clause in that Basic Cable contract. When the two walked off the set Nov. 5th, they breached their AFTRA contract, while abiding by the Strike rules of the WGA. Neither men are Steve Carrel, where they could call in a “fuck you” and shut everything down. Nor are they Jay Leno, who may or may not be violating WGA rules regarding “Struck Work” by wirting his own material - Jay is also a member of AFTRA.
For reasons known only to the negotiating teams, a request for an Interim Agreement with Comedy Central for the two shows to bring back their writers was rejected. REJECTED. THE WGA BLEW AN OPPORTUNITY TO PRESSURE the AMPTP, by having Comedy Central sign the Interim Agreement - you know DAMN well, that they would not have gone to the WGA unless VIACOM and Sumner Redstone gave them the “alles klarheit” to do so.
Now, back to their dilemma:
WGA? AFTRA? Strike? Work/save 400 jobs…
you tell me.
BET Networks said today that the BET Digital Media Group will be launching a vertical advertising network in an effort to give advertisers more exposure to African-American Internet users.
The BET Digital Media Group said the vertical advertising network featuring 30 Web sites would focus on music, entertainment and lifestyle content relevant to the urban and African-American communities.
The new advertising will allow advertisers to target African-American consumers across relevant and professional Web sites. BET’s vertical advertising network will offer Web site publishers revenue opportunities by connecting publishers to advertisers trying to reach urban and African-American consumers.
According to Jupiter Research, African Americans are likelier to respond positively to online advertising, and are the second largest online minority after Hispanics with 22.7 million users.
So, let me get this straight: You are full of shit about what you want to pay those of us who MAKE YOU YOUR MONEY? man, is this summer going to be real long
““We respect the rights of our freelance and temporary employees to express their opinions on the changes that have been made” VIACOM the MTV Freelancers walkout
Times Square. Hundreds of freelancers working for Viacom, which owns MTV Networks, walked out of MTV headquarters yesterday to protest the terms of their new contracts, which cut benefits.
They estimated freelancers make up half of Viacom’s workforce.
“We respect the rights of our freelance and temporary employees to express their opinions on the changes that have been made,” Viacom said in a statement. “Our new programs and policies are still highly competitive with the rest of our industry.”
HALF the workforce of VIACOM is freelance. HALF. and they want to cut benefits to HALF the workforce? Oh, Sumner, you are indeed getting spongy in your pia mater
WGAE
as we enter Day 6 of the WGA strike, Broadway will go dark save for eight (8) shows, when stage hands, go on strike as of today.
Broadway’s stagehands will go on strike today, capping more than three months of unsuccessful negotiations with theater owners and producers, the producers said in a posting on their Web site this morning. Local One, the stagehands’ union, was told last night by its parent union to walk out, according to two people who have been briefed on the decision.
The strike would be the second work stoppage on Broadway in less than five years. The musicians’ strike in 2003, which lasted for four days, was the first time since 1975 that Broadway was shut down by a labor dispute.
A spokesman for the union declined to comment last night. According to the Local One Web site, a meeting is scheduled for this morning at 9.
All Broadway shows would be shut down except for eight: “Cymbeline,” “Mary Poppins,” “Mauritius,” “Pygmalion,” “The Ritz,” “Young Frankenstein,” “Xanadu” and “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.” Those shows are playing in theaters that have a separate contract with the union…
The talks, which have been going on since before the union’s contract expired in July, broke down over the issue of work rules.
The contract with Local One has strict rules governing how many stagehands must be called to work, what kind of tasks they can perform and how long the work calls can be scheduled. League members say the rules inevitably lead to long periods of time when stagehands are on the clock with nothing to do.
The league has been pushing for more flexibility in deciding how many stagehands are needed for work and when they are needed, and they have offered a package of raises in return for that flexibility.
James J. Claffey, the president of the union, has said that the stagehands would be willing to make changes to the rules in return for benefits of equal value.
“Felxibility = Great Benies, Crap Pay”
On the WGA frontaganda:
Here’s what Sumner Redstone has to say about teh Intertubes and Viacomablity (h/t) to NoFactZone.net):
Among other things, Redstone touted his companies’ strong online reach compared to such recent phenomenons as Facebook and their growing advertising revenue coming from cross-platform deals.
While Viacom has sued Google’s YouTube, Redstone also called on media companies “to make it easy for consumers to obtain our content in a legal manner,” and content producers “cannot let the lack of perfect anti-piracy tools keep us from forging ahead in providing the best, most innovative, creative content to the consumer over whatever medium they prefer.”
You remember that? Viacom was demanding $$$ for the stream of clips, fanvids and so on. The WGA is asking the same thing from the studiorperations.
In his appearance at the Media and Money conference, organized by Dow Jones and The Hollywood Reporter’s corporate parent The Nielsen Company, Redstone started with some giggles.
“I do not pretend to be a technology maven,” he said. “I’m not an early adopter. In fact, I have reached the point in my life that I can best be described as a non-adopter. I don’t ping people with emails, I don’t blog or twitter, and I won’t be texting any of you anytime soon.”
hahahaha… oh. stop… you are killing me, Sumner….
Redstone argued four key points for media and entertainment folks during the rest of his speech, and said Viacom and CBS have done well keeping them in mind:
1) Consumers have taken charge, and there is no going back, so content providers must keep bringing their offers to all platforms.
2) “Advertising will “pay” the way — even on the Internet,” and so-called old media companies have a chance to benefit if they play things right.
‘Play things right” aka screwing the Writers, and actors.
3) Global growth opportunities are increasingly a two-way process as U.S. content goes overseas, vice versa plus U.S. media companies invest in indigenous programming overseas.
4) “Copyright is even more right in the digital age.”
Say what?
Redstone argued that with consumers having taken charge in the digital age, content must be “viral, ubiquitous and easy to use.”
And with 500 channels and 8 billion Internet sites out there, “digital means dollars for those with the best content,” he said.
Redstone said that mobile devices and content for them are ready to explode. Said the Viacom and CBS chairman: “It’s on-the-move devices that are the next primetime venue.”
Redstone said today’s business has become the “fragmented search economy,” which, he argued, “means we need to extend our content beyond our own destination sites, so consumers can find it more easily.”
see thedailyshow.com.
He lauded Viacom for being the biggest producer of mobile content in the world and said the firm’s Internet portfolio some 92 million visitors per month worldwide. “That’s double Facebook’s user base and lands us in the top 10 list of Internet destinations,” he touted. “Of those 10, only Wikipedia is growing faster.”
yet Time Warner says they are LOSING money… while AOL (Advertising On Line) quietly becomes their advertising arm.
A banner day for me. Today was the first time I was able to work continually for 4 1/2 hours before tiring to the point I needed to lie down. 4 years ago, I was at 20 minutes before the fatigue set in.
the fatigue will always be part of the equation, but it’s being held back. by sheer necessity….
I was asked to stage manage a show over at the Actors Studio. I walked into their temporary space at Baruch College here in nYc, and introduced myself to director Jo Bonney, playwright Israel Horovitz, actors Robert Walsh, Frank Solorzano, and Luca Pierucci. I would have met Ethan Hawk, but he wasn’t at the rehearsal, though he was there to take part in the reading… The rehearsal began, and I thought: "Why am I needed for this? A reading? Apparently, I was the only one asking that question. After an hour, the guy who had asked me to stage manage walks into the theater, a Black Box, and apologizes for being late. That’s when I realized I was at the WRONG FREAKING REHEARSAL. I attended the reading, and thanked Frank Solarzano for not embarassing me about the mix up, and he said: "You fit right in."
End Smithsonian-Showtime Deal, Filmmakers and Historians Ask
More than 200 filmmakers and historians asked the Smithsonian Institution yesterday to abandon its production deal with Showtime Networks and reconsider a recently imposed policy that limits access to Smithsonian archives and experts.In a letter to Secretary Lawrence M. Small, the Smithsonian’s top official, the group objected to restrictions on filmmakers and researchers who seek “more than incidental” use of its public archives. After the Smithsonian signed with Showtime to make television programming, filmmakers and researchers whose projects focused extensively on the Smithsonian’s holdings or staff were informed that they had to offer their film treatments first to Showtime.
