January 2008 Archives

"Recut, Reframe, Recycle: Quoting Copyrighted Material in User-Generated Video" is a useful report from American University's Center for Social Media. The study

by Center director Pat Aufderheide and Peter Jaszi, co-director of the law school’s Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property, shows that many uses of copyrighted material in today’s online videos are eligible for fair use consideration. The study points to a wide variety of practices—satire, parody, negative and positive commentary, discussion-triggers, illustration, diaries, archiving and of course, pastiche or collage (remixes and mashups)—all of which could be legal in some circumstances.

The National Film Preservation Foundation has issued its third box set of early cinema in the popular Treasures from American Film Archives series: TREASURES III: SOCIAL ISSUES IN AMERICAN FILM, 1900–1934. A recent favorable review in Film Quarterly provides an excellent thematic overview of how the films in this collection tackled the pressing social issues of their time. This set will be a valuable resource for media courses as well as courses in history, political science, American studies, and any course dealing with American social movements.

The four dvd box set and accompanying notes are available at the Paley circulation desk, call number PN1995.9.S62 T743x 2007. Check the library catalog for availability.