Film Makers Post "Fair Use" Guidelines

February 23, 2007

Although it does not carry the force of law, every content creator should read a newly posted document about fair use best practices.

Authored by several documentary filmmaker organizations, the 12-page PDF is entitled "Best Practices In Fair Use."

There's legally grounded (but not overly legalese) guides to such issues and quandaries as:

Employing Copyrighted Material as the Object Of Social, Political or Cultural Critique;
Quoting Copyrighted Works of Popular Culture To Illustrate an Argument or Point;
Capturing Copyrighted Media Content in the Process of Filming Something Else, and
Using Copyrighted Material in A Historical Sequence

Even if you are "just" a You Tube-r," you owe this handy guide a read.