[NEohioPAL] Equity official speaks about use of video for news/promo purposes

[TONY BROWN]

I just got off the phone with an Equity spokeswoman, Maria Somma, who
had much to say about the use of video.

Essentially, Equity rules ALLOW for video for news and promotional
purposes! No extra pay for actors, just as no extra pay to actors for
photos. Certain rules apply (like length of video, etc.)

Also, she mentioned that as part of the current negotiations for the
production contract (the one used on Broadway and the template for all
other contracts), much of the talk is centering on NEW MEDIA in general
and BLOGS specifically. So we should have some even er definitions and
guidelines soon. 

There are issues, of course, with publishers, etc. But I can tell you
right now that as a 30-year veteran of this business, there is a FAIR
USE DOCTRINE in the copyright laws.

What the hell, you're thinking, is fair use?

The 1961 Report of the Register of Copyrights on the General Revision
of the U.S. Copyright Law cites examples of activities that courts have
regarded as fair use: *quotation of excerpts in a review or criticism
for purposes of illustration or comment; quotation of short passages in
a scholarly or technical work, for illustration or clarification of the
author's observations; use in a parody of some of the content of the
work parodied; summary of an address or article, with brief quotations,
in a news report; reproduction by a library of a portion of a work to
replace part of a damaged copy; reproduction by a teacher or student of
a small part of a work to illustrate a lesson; reproduction of a work in
legislative or judicial proceedings or reports; incidental and
fortuitous reproduction, in a newsreel or broadcast, of a work located
in the scene of an event being reported.* 

I think, in fact, we're covered, from both an Equity and authorship
point of view.

Send me your videos. Or not. Whatever.

Tony



Sign up for FREE breaking news updates at cleveland.com/updates