CUREJ - College Undergraduate Research Electronic Journal
Fair Use in Independent Documentary Filmmaking
Division: Humanities
Dept/Program: Cinema Studies
Document Type: Undergraduate Student Research
Mentor(s): Timothy Corrigan
Date of this Version: 26 June 2006
This document has been peer reviewed.
Abstract
Copyright law's "fair use" doctrine aims to protect artists' First Amendment-informed rights by establishing the legality of their non-licensed citation or incorporation of copyrighted material of another author's copyrighted work into their own. However, ambiguities surrounding the function and extent of fair use, and the sheer legal expenses of clarifying these uncertainties on a case-by-case basis, frequently deny authors their First Amendment-based fair use rights. In the context of independent documentary filmmaking, a rigidly structured and highly expensive rights clearance culture generates many ethical ambiguities and thereby functions as a significant form of censorship.
Discipline(s)
Intellectual Property Law
Suggested Citation
Hennefeld, Margaret, "Fair Use in Independent Documentary Filmmaking" 26 June 2006. CUREJ: College Undergraduate Research Electronic Journal, University of Pennsylvania, https://repository.upenn.edu/curej/22.
Date Posted: 27 June 2006
This document has been peer reviewed.
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