Requiem for the Indies: Will Independent Professional Documentary Filmmakers Go the Way of the Dinosaurs?
4:30 pm – 5:30 pm Tuesday, Dec. 2
Professional documentary filmmakers are like dinosaurs on the edge of extinction, threatened by a powerful meteorite called the law of copyright. Originally established to defend and support creative artists, copyright now operates mainly in the interest of big corporations, and threatens the survival of independents by starving them of images and source material. As if that wasn’t enough there’s the added danger of being swamped by the tsunami of “user generated content.” Professional filmmakers are facing unprecedented competition from non-professional film makers. In the last several years, these producers have benefitted from operating in a “copyright free” zone – although they, too, now are beginning to feel legal pressure. Is there a solution? In the United States, the “fair use” doctrine strikes a balance between access and protection. Finding an equivalent in European law will be a challenge. But filmmakers have no choice except to try.
Sponsored by Doc/It
Session Producers:
Giusi Santoro, Head of Factual, POPCult (Italy)
Marco Visalberghi, Managing Director, DocLab (Italy)
Moderator:
Marco Visalberghi, Managing Director, DocLab (Italy)
Guest Speaker:
Peter Jaszi, Professor of Law, American University Washington College of Law (USA)