Proud Resident of a BLUE STATE
Jessica Rosner
Kino International
333 W 39th St. 503
NY NY 10018
jrosner@kino.com
212-629-6880
> From: "Jed Horovitz" <JedH@internetvideoarchive.com>
> Reply-To: videolib@library.berkeley.edu
> Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2005 08:54:41 -0500
> To: <videolib@library.berkeley.edu>
> Subject: RE: [Videolib] film stills for publication
>
> Here are the cites. While you are correct that one of the cases involved
> bits from a trailer, the issue was not that the trailer was not registered,
> but that it was a Fair Use and thus would have applied equally had the
> material been lifted directly from the movie. In another (sad) case, in
> SDNJ, the court actually ruled that the copyright protection in a movie
> 'devolves' to the trailer and thus you don't need to register trailers, but
> that would not change the outcomes below. Jed
>
> Hofheinz v. A&E Television Networks (S.D.N.Y. 2001),
> The Court considered whether A&E's use of clips from a movie trailer for a
> copyrighted film for a biography of actor Peter Graves was fair use. The
> biography narrator introduced the movie clip as outdated and "campy". The
> Court found that the biography was transformative because use of a movie
> trailer clip for a "B" movie "was not shown to recreate the creative
> expression reposing in plaintiff's film." Its purpose was to "enable the
> viewer to understand the actor's modest beginnings in the film business."
> http://www.nysd.uscourts.gov/courtweb/pdf/D02NYSC/01-07249.PDF
>
> Hofheinz v. AMC Productions (S.D.N.Y. 2001)
> Plaintiff sued defendant for its use of excerpts one of her low budget
> science fiction "alien" films in a 1997 program. Defendant used the clips
> from the alien film in a documentary-style program that identified the
> common themes and political contexts of alien visitation films. The clips
> were used for the transformative purpose of enriching the commentary on the
> 'alien visitation genre' and did not constitute the heart of the copyrighted
> work. Defendant's program was not a substitute for viewing the entirety of
> the copyrighted film, nor did it capture its essence. Since defendant's
> program was transformative, defendant's profit motive did not alter the
> analysis of the first fair use factor. The balance of the fair use factors
> were in defendant's favor and the Court found that defendant's use of
> plaintiff's alien film constituted fair use.
> http://www.nysd.uscourts.gov/courtweb/pdf/D02NYSC/01-07249.PDF
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: videolib-bounces@library.berkeley.edu
> [mailto:videolib-bounces@library.berkeley.edu]On Behalf Of Jessica
> Rosner
> Sent: Tuesday, February 15, 2005 3:52 PM
> To: videolib@library.berkeley.edu
> Subject: Re: [Videolib] film stills for publication
>
>
> I would love info on the A &E case as that would be BIG news if one could
> use film clips free of charge in documentaries. I think it is possible you
> are thinking of the issue of using clips from TRAILERS in documentaries has
> been done for a long time as a way of avoiding paying for "real" clips. I
> know some studios attempted to crack down on the practice but no idea where
> it stands. The theory was that unlike the films the trailers were not
> copyrighted and intended as promotion. It is very likely that the same
> would apply to PUBLICITY stills but I don't see how it could apply to either
> direct clips or snatches. Anyway if you have a link to the case or any
> articles about it, please post it
>
> Jessica
>
>
> Proud Resident of a BLUE STATE
>
> Jessica Rosner
> Kino International
> 333 W 39th St. 503
> NY NY 10018
> jrosner@kino.com
> 212-629-6880
>
>> From: "Jed Horovitz" <JedH@internetvideoarchive.com>
>> Reply-To: videolib@library.berkeley.edu
>> Date: Tue, 15 Feb 2005 15:20:40 -0500
>> To: <videolib@library.berkeley.edu>
>> Subject: RE: [Videolib] film stills for publication
>>
>> I too don't know of a commercial publisher who will invest without a
>> clearance in writing. That doesn't make it legally required though.
>>
>> The A&E Biography cases in NY established that using clips in a
> documentary
>> about the film or the genre or an actor in a film was a fair use. How
> could
>> the use of a still in a book about the film or the genre or an actor not
> be?
>>
>> I think that publishers are part of the same copyright cartel and don't
> want
>> to rock the boat. As long as they can pass the effort and expense off on
>> the author, why should they?
>>
>> Jed
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: videolib-bounces@library.berkeley.edu
>> [mailto:videolib-bounces@library.berkeley.edu]On Behalf Of Jessica
>> Rosner
>> Sent: Tuesday, February 15, 2005 2:03 PM
>> To: videolib@library.berkeley.edu
>> Subject: Re: [Videolib] film stills for publication
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>> From: "Jed Horovitz" <JedH@internetvideoarchive.com>
>>>
>>> As the (gasp) producer of "Rock and Roll High School Forever" and
>> uncredited
>>> writer of
>>> "Slumber Party Massacre Part II" I can only say, 'It is about time
>> somebody
>>> did a book on this important genre.' Heh, I had to eat.
>>>
>>> Seriously, I think the best think to do is contact the producers because
>>> they will mostly be glad to provide stills.
>>>
>>> If they can't be found, he should document that and try pulling images
>> from
>>> video. Sounds like a fair use to me.
>>>
>>> Jed
>>
>> Just wondering Jed does anything NOT sound like fair use to you ? I
> really
>> have not kept up with the law on this but it is my understanding that
>> publishers require written clearance to cover their backs. The only law
> case
>> I followed was very odd one in which a very insistent rights holder sued
> and
>> won a judgement against VARIETY of all places for the unauthorized use of
> a
>> LAUREL & HARDY image. It is Kino's policy never to charge for use of
> stills
>> but I gather the going studio rate is around $250 per image. There was a
>> famous/infamous article that asserted that pulling images from a film
> WOULD
>> be covered but using standard issue publicity images would not. Personally
> I
>> think it is the other way round but other than the L& H thing
>> ( which was publicity image) I have not heard of any cases.
>> Bottom line is that publishers are nervous so they want written permission
>> which in the case of the movies your friend is trying to get, may be a
> real
>> pain in the ass
>>
>> jessica
>>
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