I am doing a short documentary on health and the doctor mentioned how the media plays a roel with ads and marketeing to children. Would I be able to show commercials/ads as he talks about it? It will be submitted to film festivals, but not sold and is for a non-profit org (though it was a paid project, not sure if that makes a difference)
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Fair Use? for Health Documentary
- Thread starter SGCman
- Start date
David W. Richardson
Chapelgrove Films
Whether it's sold or not, makes money or not, if you were paid or not -- none of that matters.
'Fair use' is a defense, and nobody can really tell you if you would win or lose a lawsuit using that defense if one was filed against you. It seems clear that your use of the commercials will show the advertisers in a bad light ("marketing bad things to children"), so you may stand a good chance of being sued as a result. Even if you're totally in the right, that doesn't mean you won't be sued and have to prove in court that you are right, and that can add up to a big, expensive battle.
Can you afford the costs of fighting a lawsuit filed by companies with deep pockets and plenty of lawyers? That's probably going to be the deciding factor.
'Fair use' is a defense, and nobody can really tell you if you would win or lose a lawsuit using that defense if one was filed against you. It seems clear that your use of the commercials will show the advertisers in a bad light ("marketing bad things to children"), so you may stand a good chance of being sued as a result. Even if you're totally in the right, that doesn't mean you won't be sued and have to prove in court that you are right, and that can add up to a big, expensive battle.
Can you afford the costs of fighting a lawsuit filed by companies with deep pockets and plenty of lawyers? That's probably going to be the deciding factor.
Barry_Green
Moderator
David's advice is legally accurate (inasmuch as I'm not a lawyer). Fair Use is not an exception in the copyright code, it is a defense against prosecution.
That said, if your uses fall within what the fair use provisions specify, you shouldn't have to be overly worried about getting sued. I mean, anyone can sue anyone for any reason; the question is whether you give them grounds to sue you or not. There are risks in all aspects of life, there's risks in crossing the street -- all you can do is manage the risk as best as possible and make sure the reward is worth taking the risk.
Your description sounds like what "fair use" embodies, so long as you follow the guidelines. Use only snippets, don't use the whole commercial; use it as a reference to a point of discussion, not as its original intention (i.e., a "transformative use"), and follow the law as outlined at copyright.gov and you can also review something like this explanation from Stanford University.
The US Copyright Office publishes an index of Fair Use court opinions that you can search to see if someone else has done something like what you're planning on doing, and see if there have been any court rulings on it.
And, as always, if you want advice on what's okay or not okay to do under the law, you really need to be asking a lawyer. Nobody on here can give you proper legal advice that pertains to your exact situation.
That said, if your uses fall within what the fair use provisions specify, you shouldn't have to be overly worried about getting sued. I mean, anyone can sue anyone for any reason; the question is whether you give them grounds to sue you or not. There are risks in all aspects of life, there's risks in crossing the street -- all you can do is manage the risk as best as possible and make sure the reward is worth taking the risk.
Your description sounds like what "fair use" embodies, so long as you follow the guidelines. Use only snippets, don't use the whole commercial; use it as a reference to a point of discussion, not as its original intention (i.e., a "transformative use"), and follow the law as outlined at copyright.gov and you can also review something like this explanation from Stanford University.
The US Copyright Office publishes an index of Fair Use court opinions that you can search to see if someone else has done something like what you're planning on doing, and see if there have been any court rulings on it.
And, as always, if you want advice on what's okay or not okay to do under the law, you really need to be asking a lawyer. Nobody on here can give you proper legal advice that pertains to your exact situation.
combatentropy
Veteran
Odd that companies will either pay you or sue you to put their commercials in your movie.
David W. Richardson
Chapelgrove Films
What Barry says is also true. However, if your use of their material is going to paint them in a negative light, I think they'd be much more likely to sue in an attempt to have the film stopped, even if they may not have grounds to win in the end. They may try for an injunction to prevent showing or distribution of the film until the case can be settled, then drag it out as long as possible with delays, hoping you will run out of money and give up or that any market or interest for your film will die off. If you fail to represent in court, they may automatically win by default.
It's possible it could be an expensive mess. The question is, is it valuable enough to you to use that footage that you're willing to risk an expensive legal mess? It's very likely that even if you win, you lose.
It's possible it could be an expensive mess. The question is, is it valuable enough to you to use that footage that you're willing to risk an expensive legal mess? It's very likely that even if you win, you lose.
Thanks for the input, I guess I'll stay away... powerful companies. What's weird is while doing research, I've stumbled on to information that the companies I'd be painting in a bad light actually SPONSOR the company I've been hired by. I'm officially working for the Illuminati! lol... but at least I'm working, right? :undecided