0.6 Movies and film

Chapter 8: Movies&Film

On August 29, CleanFlicks of Colorado, a company that issues E-Rated movies "edited for content to remove nudity and sexual situations, offensive language, and graphic violence," sued 16 movie directors in Denver's federal district court for the right to distribute altered versions of movies on DVD and VHS. The company claimed First Amendment and fair use rights. This suit ultimately failed, and CleanFlicks went out of business.

Subsequently, in 2005, Congress passed the Family Movie Act, which allows the use of devices either in the home, or that transmit to the home, movies with “limited portions of audio or video content” made imperceptible. In other words, those people wanting an edited version of a video may have one, and manufacturers of such equipment may safely distribute it.

Popular movies, documentary films, and educational video are all common parts of modern life. But the creation of them, and the use of portions for various purposes have led to many copyright disputes. Troubles experienced by documentary filmmakers have led to a new trend: the creation of “best practices” statements.

By the end of this chapter, you should be able to answer:

1. Is it infringing to take clips from a movie?
2. How can I make copies of my favorite movies without infringing copyright?
3. Is modifying a movie always an infringement?
4. Does a documentary filmmaker have to avoid “surrounding culture” when he films?
5. What are the “Best Practices”?

Q: I’ve heard that copyright is completely different for movies than for other things like books or music. Is that true?

A: No, it’s not true. The basic rules of copyright (covered in chapter 1) stay the same, and apply to all types of creativity. However, as each genre is used and distributed a bit differently, different copyright concerns are stronger in each genre. For example, since the days of Napster and Grokster, both music and movie companies have been very concerned about the distribution of music. Book publishers, however, are more concerned about significant portions of their books being re-produced in other books, but they’re also making sure that e-books are distributed only with security management software. Every form of creativity has its own concerns; that’s why a chapter will be dedicated to each of the forms: music, movies, and art.

Q: Has the Internet and downloading changed copyright?

A: No, but yes. If you look at how movie producers viewed potential movie pirating activities in 1985 in comparison with today, then the answer is yes. Movie distribution companies – those that manufacture, ship, and profit from the theater versions and DVDs – are substantially more concerned about pirating activity than they used to be. But, the law of copyright has not changed. An infringing copy was just as infringing in 1985 as in 2011. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 added protection for software that prevents excess copying of a DVD. It made it illegal to bypass this software, or share information on how to bypass it. (More detail is in Ch. 3)