http://www.thestandard.com/node/119596/comments comments feed. en Is Fair Use decided by who has the most money? http://www.thestandard.com/news/2008/10/07/fair-use-decided-who-has-most-money <p> <p> </p> <p>Anthony Falzone, Executive Director of the Fair Use Project, was involved in the defense of the suit brought by Yoko Ono and EMI Records over the use of John Lennon's <i>Imagine</i> in Ben Stein's documentary film <i>Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed</i>. As a result of his involvement in the suit, defending the filmmakers pro bono alongside the producers' lawyers, <a href="http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/node/5876">he came to a frightening conclusion</a>: fair use is guaranteed under U.S. copyright law, but it's becoming too expensive to actually take advantage of what is supposed to be a guaranteed right.</p> <p>As Falzone points out, the film's producers were able to take advantage of the Documentary Film Program, which provides Media Professional Insurance and the availability of legal vetting of fair use of media before a movie is released. Even with that vetting, however, Ono and EMI sued over a 15-second section of a song used in a documentary, and the DVD version of the film was released without that section because of the pending lawsuit. If a film with Hollywood producers has trouble using media clips, what hope does an average citizen have of using something without worrying about huge legal expenses that could result?</p> <div style="float: right; margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 2px"> <script type="text/javascript"> digg_url = 'http://digg.com/business_finance/Yoko_Ono_EMI_suit_over_Imagine_exposes_Fair_Use_flaw'; </script><script src="http://digg.com/tools/diggthis.js" type="text/javascript"> </script></div> <p>This year has seen an alarming amount of debate over what constitutes fair use, from the <a href="/news/2008/06/13/ap-sues-blogger-too-long-excerpts">AP's issues with The Drudge Retort</a> to concerns about erosion of fair use as part of <a href="/news/2008/09/16/eff-and-other-organizations-calling-acta-draft-release">the proposed ACTA legislation</a>. Legal protection is nothing but words on paper if the de facto law is that whoever has the most money decides what constitutes fair use.</p> http://www.thestandard.com/news/2008/10/07/fair-use-decided-who-has-most-money#comments Fair Use Lennon v. Premise Media people:Anthony Falzone Standards & Legal The Industry Standard Tue, 07 Oct 2008 18:03:06 -0700 Cyndy Aleo-Carreira 119596 at http://www.thestandard.com Is Fair Use decided by who has the most money? http://www.thestandard.com/news/2008/10/07/fair-use-decided-who-has-most-money <p> <p> </p> <p>Anthony Falzone, Executive Director of the Fair Use Project, was involved in the defense of the suit brought by Yoko Ono and EMI Records over the use of John Lennon's <i>Imagine</i> in Ben Stein's documentary film <i>Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed</i>. As a result of his involvement in the suit, defending the filmmakers pro bono alongside the producers' lawyers, <a href="http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/node/5876">he came to a frightening conclusion</a>: fair use is guaranteed under U.S. copyright law, but it's becoming too expensive to actually take advantage of what is supposed to be a guaranteed right.</p> <p>As Falzone points out, the film's producers were able to take advantage of the Documentary Film Program, which provides Media Professional Insurance and the availability of legal vetting of fair use of media before a movie is released. Even with that vetting, however, Ono and EMI sued over a 15-second section of a song used in a documentary, and the DVD version of the film was released without that section because of the pending lawsuit. If a film with Hollywood producers has trouble using media clips, what hope does an average citizen have of using something without worrying about huge legal expenses that could result?</p> <div style="float: right; margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 2px"> <script type="text/javascript"> digg_url = 'http://digg.com/business_finance/Yoko_Ono_EMI_suit_over_Imagine_exposes_Fair_Use_flaw'; </script><script src="http://digg.com/tools/diggthis.js" type="text/javascript"> </script></div> <p>This year has seen an alarming amount of debate over what constitutes fair use, from the <a href="/news/2008/06/13/ap-sues-blogger-too-long-excerpts">AP's issues with The Drudge Retort</a> to concerns about erosion of fair use as part of <a href="/news/2008/09/16/eff-and-other-organizations-calling-acta-draft-release">the proposed ACTA legislation</a>. Legal protection is nothing but words on paper if the de facto law is that whoever has the most money decides what constitutes fair use.</p> http://www.thestandard.com/news/2008/10/07/fair-use-decided-who-has-most-money#comments Fair Use Lennon v. Premise Media people:Anthony Falzone Standards & Legal The Industry Standard Tue, 07 Oct 2008 18:03:06 -0700 Cyndy Aleo-Carreira 119596 at http://www.thestandard.com Is Fair Use decided by who has the most money? http://www.thestandard.com/news/2008/10/07/fair-use-decided-who-has-most-money <p> <p> </p> <p>Anthony Falzone, Executive Director of the Fair Use Project, was involved in the defense of the suit brought by Yoko Ono and EMI Records over the use of John Lennon's <i>Imagine</i> in Ben Stein's documentary film <i>Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed</i>. As a result of his involvement in the suit, defending the filmmakers pro bono alongside the producers' lawyers, <a href="http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/node/5876">he came to a frightening conclusion</a>: fair use is guaranteed under U.S. copyright law, but it's becoming too expensive to actually take advantage of what is supposed to be a guaranteed right.</p> <p>As Falzone points out, the film's producers were able to take advantage of the Documentary Film Program, which provides Media Professional Insurance and the availability of legal vetting of fair use of media before a movie is released. Even with that vetting, however, Ono and EMI sued over a 15-second section of a song used in a documentary, and the DVD version of the film was released without that section because of the pending lawsuit. If a film with Hollywood producers has trouble using media clips, what hope does an average citizen have of using something without worrying about huge legal expenses that could result?</p> <div style="float: right; margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 2px"> <script type="text/javascript"> digg_url = 'http://digg.com/business_finance/Yoko_Ono_EMI_suit_over_Imagine_exposes_Fair_Use_flaw'; </script><script src="http://digg.com/tools/diggthis.js" type="text/javascript"> </script></div> <p>This year has seen an alarming amount of debate over what constitutes fair use, from the <a href="/news/2008/06/13/ap-sues-blogger-too-long-excerpts">AP's issues with The Drudge Retort</a> to concerns about erosion of fair use as part of <a href="/news/2008/09/16/eff-and-other-organizations-calling-acta-draft-release">the proposed ACTA legislation</a>. Legal protection is nothing but words on paper if the de facto law is that whoever has the most money decides what constitutes fair use.</p> http://www.thestandard.com/news/2008/10/07/fair-use-decided-who-has-most-money#comments Fair Use Lennon v. Premise Media people:Anthony Falzone Standards & Legal The Industry Standard Tue, 07 Oct 2008 18:03:06 -0700 Cyndy Aleo-Carreira 119596 at http://www.thestandard.com Is Fair Use decided by who has the most money? http://www.thestandard.com/news/2008/10/07/fair-use-decided-who-has-most-money <p> <p> </p> <p>Anthony Falzone, Executive Director of the Fair Use Project, was involved in the defense of the suit brought by Yoko Ono and EMI Records over the use of John Lennon's <i>Imagine</i> in Ben Stein's documentary film <i>Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed</i>. As a result of his involvement in the suit, defending the filmmakers pro bono alongside the producers' lawyers, <a href="http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/node/5876">he came to a frightening conclusion</a>: fair use is guaranteed under U.S. copyright law, but it's becoming too expensive to actually take advantage of what is supposed to be a guaranteed right.</p> <p>As Falzone points out, the film's producers were able to take advantage of the Documentary Film Program, which provides Media Professional Insurance and the availability of legal vetting of fair use of media before a movie is released. Even with that vetting, however, Ono and EMI sued over a 15-second section of a song used in a documentary, and the DVD version of the film was released without that section because of the pending lawsuit. If a film with Hollywood producers has trouble using media clips, what hope does an average citizen have of using something without worrying about huge legal expenses that could result?</p> <div style="float: right; margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 2px"> <script type="text/javascript"> digg_url = 'http://digg.com/business_finance/Yoko_Ono_EMI_suit_over_Imagine_exposes_Fair_Use_flaw'; </script><script src="http://digg.com/tools/diggthis.js" type="text/javascript"> </script></div> <p>This year has seen an alarming amount of debate over what constitutes fair use, from the <a href="/news/2008/06/13/ap-sues-blogger-too-long-excerpts">AP's issues with The Drudge Retort</a> to concerns about erosion of fair use as part of <a href="/news/2008/09/16/eff-and-other-organizations-calling-acta-draft-release">the proposed ACTA legislation</a>. Legal protection is nothing but words on paper if the de facto law is that whoever has the most money decides what constitutes fair use.</p> http://www.thestandard.com/news/2008/10/07/fair-use-decided-who-has-most-money#comments Fair Use Lennon v. Premise Media people:Anthony Falzone Standards & Legal The Industry Standard Tue, 07 Oct 2008 18:03:06 -0700 Cyndy Aleo-Carreira 119596 at http://www.thestandard.com Is Fair Use decided by who has the most money? http://www.thestandard.com/news/2008/10/07/fair-use-decided-who-has-most-money <p> <p> </p> <p>Anthony Falzone, Executive Director of the Fair Use Project, was involved in the defense of the suit brought by Yoko Ono and EMI Records over the use of John Lennon's <i>Imagine</i> in Ben Stein's documentary film <i>Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed</i>. As a result of his involvement in the suit, defending the filmmakers pro bono alongside the producers' lawyers, <a href="http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/node/5876">he came to a frightening conclusion</a>: fair use is guaranteed under U.S. copyright law, but it's becoming too expensive to actually take advantage of what is supposed to be a guaranteed right.</p> <p>As Falzone points out, the film's producers were able to take advantage of the Documentary Film Program, which provides Media Professional Insurance and the availability of legal vetting of fair use of media before a movie is released. Even with that vetting, however, Ono and EMI sued over a 15-second section of a song used in a documentary, and the DVD version of the film was released without that section because of the pending lawsuit. If a film with Hollywood producers has trouble using media clips, what hope does an average citizen have of using something without worrying about huge legal expenses that could result?</p> <div style="float: right; margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 2px"> <script type="text/javascript"> digg_url = 'http://digg.com/business_finance/Yoko_Ono_EMI_suit_over_Imagine_exposes_Fair_Use_flaw'; </script><script src="http://digg.com/tools/diggthis.js" type="text/javascript"> </script></div> <p>This year has seen an alarming amount of debate over what constitutes fair use, from the <a href="/news/2008/06/13/ap-sues-blogger-too-long-excerpts">AP's issues with The Drudge Retort</a> to concerns about erosion of fair use as part of <a href="/news/2008/09/16/eff-and-other-organizations-calling-acta-draft-release">the proposed ACTA legislation</a>. Legal protection is nothing but words on paper if the de facto law is that whoever has the most money decides what constitutes fair use.</p> http://www.thestandard.com/news/2008/10/07/fair-use-decided-who-has-most-money#comments Fair Use Lennon v. Premise Media people:Anthony Falzone Standards & Legal The Industry Standard Tue, 07 Oct 2008 18:03:06 -0700 Cyndy Aleo-Carreira 119596 at http://www.thestandard.com