Fair Use and Clearance
Fair Use is a doctrine in United States copyright law that allows limited use of
copyrighted material without requiring permission from the rights holders, such as use
for scholarship or review. It provides for the legal, non-licensed citation or
incorporation of copyrighted material in another author's work under a four-factor
balancing test. Although several hundred years old, in 2005, the doctrine of Fair Use
became extremely current and relevant to filmmakers when the Association of
Independent Video and Filmmakers, the Independent Documentary Association, public
TV's Independent Television Service and the series P.O.V., and other media groups
endorsed a Statement of Best Practices defining four kinds of situations when a
producer, under the "fair use" provisions of copyright law, need not pay for a film clip, a
shot of a painting or a snatch of music. As a result, a "Fair Use Rider" was negotiated
with the E & O Insurance providers, allowing E & O Insurance to be issued to
filmmakers who utilized the Fair Use doctrine in their films.
Entertainment Law Partners will: