John Solo

Mr. Matt Moberly

March 20, 2015
Background/Problem Draft
Copyright in Filmmaking
The Copyright Act was originally intended to promote scientific and artistic
progress. George C. Hiavac and Edward J. Easterly states that copyright is a legal
construction that provides protections to works produced by an individual or entity
(Hiavac et.al. 8). It applies to both published and unpublished works. Copyright
grants right owners the power to distribute the material, build upon the work, and
publicly display it. It promotes growth in any field that requires producing an original
new piece of work, because it prevent others people from publishing someone elses
work under their name and collecting unauthorized profit from it. The protection
allows artist to feel confident with sharing their art with the world. However, the
digital age has changed the culture of copyright. Filmmakers now have unlimited
access to other materials thanks to vast resources that the Internet provides. As a
result, copyright laws have become outdated, and filmmakers find it difficult
producing films to their full potential with the old copyright laws. Filmmakers
sometimes have copyrighted material that are presented in their films. They have to
clear the rights with media gatekeepers, journalist or editors that filter the work
before publication, in order for them to distribute their film to the public and gain a
profit from it. According to Fred von Lohmann, filmmakers may be aware of fair use,
which is a copyright doctrine that permits the use of copyrighted works in certain
circumstances without having to get the owner's permission. However the current
attitudes of modern gatekeepers still discourage many filmmakers from making
films. Broadcast and cable networks challenge every material in a film that seems
copyrighted even if it appeals to the fair use policy. Because of this, many films are
unable to be made, or filmmakers cease production of an existing project

completely. Producer Jeffrey Tuchman himself writes, "I haven't used fair use in the
last ten years, because from the point of view of any broadcast or cable network,
there is no such thing as fair use (Lohmann 128). As a result, the American public
are unable to experience a film that has reached its full potential and expresses its
message freely, because fair use has failed to protect it.
The rights clearance process is not easy for filmmakers. They have to clear
the rights to material in their film even if it is accidental or appeared for a brief
moment. For example, if there is copyright music in their film, the filmmakers has to
either clear the rights with the respective right owners, or replace the audio with
something from the public domain. Sometimes, finding the owners is just as
difficult. The copyrighted material could be outdated, and the right owners doesnt
leave any traces for the filmmakers to find them. These works are called orphan
works. They have to go through this process for each copyrighted material that
appears in their film, which is overwhelming. Sometimes, they cant even identify
which material is copyrighted in their film. Easterly and Hiavac writes about how an
individual or entity doesnt have to file for a copyright in order for a work to be
copyrighted (Hiavac et.al. 8). This just complicates the process even further now
that filmmakers have no reliable way of identifying which material is copyrighted.
Also, filmmakers have to pay an incomprehensible amount of money just to include
the material in their film, and it can be costly depending on the amount of
copyrighted material they have in their film. Sometimes, their budget is small, and
they have to resort to a short license. A short license expires quickly, and once it
does they have to cease distribution of the film. These companies set out unrealistic
expectations for filmmakers, and it is slowly making the film industry collapse.
If this continues, it will develop into a permission culture. Films wont be
able to authentically express their message freely, because there are music that are

replaced with free music that dont belong. Filmmakers will be afraid to incorporate
certain parts in their films, because of their fear with copyright. They will resort to
playing it safe, and they will leave out crucial parts in their film. Also, if right owners
continues to place rights on more material, there wont be much raw material for
artist to work with, filmmakers wont be able to build upon the works of others that
inspire them without getting sued, and copyright will start to censor their creativity.
Copyright was intended to promote artistic and scientific progress. So far, it has
done nothing but reduce all progress if any.