The Current State of Fair Use in Documentary

The Supreme Court's decision in Warhol v. Goldsmith was eagerly, and nervously, awaited by creative communities that rely on fair use in their work, including documentary filmmakers. Now that the case has been decided, and the Warhol Foundation lost, what does it mean for doc film? Fair use experts Patricia Aufderheide (Founder, Center for Media & Social Impact), Peter Jaszi and Brandon Butler (Jaszi Butler PLLC) discuss the Warhol case, the Court's opinion, and how to think about fair use after Warhol.
- This F2F session was recorded on April 21, 2023. It was moderated by Patricia Aufderheide, and co-moderated by D-Word founder and co-host Doug Block.
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SESSION NOTES:
- For more about Patricia Aufderheide: cmsimpact.org/team/patricia-a...
- For more about Peter Jaszi and Brandon Butler: www.usefairuse.com/about
- To read the Documentary Filmmakers Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use: cmsimpact.org/code/documentar...

[@seraphimsanctuary]

Peter and Brandon are the absolute best in the business. So incredibly helpful and knowledgeable. They should be your first call for Fair use. Work with them and Christine Fall for Archival producing.

[@d-word]

Glad it was beneficial.

[@SandorLau]

So happy to have the replay of this.

[@d-word]

Glad it was helpful.

[@markbenjamin782]

This was informative, thank you Doug Block.

[@d-word]

We love Doug, all our hosts, and our special guests

[@francineweinberggraff8694]

Thank you so much for this. This is extremely helpful!

[@d-word]

Glad it was helpful

[@stevegeorge7773]

Great topic. Thank you.

[@d-word]

Glad it was helpful!

[@cathyreddy6297]

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[@user-vp7vz8li9s]

At 32:00ish he says SCOTUS found in favor of Warhol, but they found in favor of Goldsmith. Seems like a misspeak, but seems like an important one. SCOTUS said it was not Fair Use, agreeing with the Appellate court. He is corrected soon after, but in case you don't get that far...

[@jonathanfisher7941]

Wonderful session! BTW, my IP attorney had me include the film's adherence to the "Documentary Filmmakers' Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use" in the closing credits to my film, along with her identity as the film's clearance counsel. I wonder if this itself may be a best practice-although as Peter and Brandon explain, you don't want any claimants contacting your attorney.

[@d-word]

A great question. Not legal advice, but sounds like a great idea to indicate you have adhered to this.