As a filmmaker, copyright is a big and important topic. At last year’s Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC), Shaun Miller formerly of Mashall and Dent Lawyers and now on his own, led an excellent session called Copyright Law – A User Friendly Guide for Documentary Makers. I covered the session for Screen Hub, and the result was an easily understood primer on copyright that applies beyond the confines of documentary. From the article’s intro:
Conferences like this year’s AIDC are sometimes filled with the newest of the new – Web 3.0, cutting edge trends, up-to-the-moment commissioning needs – that sort of thing.
But sometimes what you need more are the basics. Things like understanding what copyright is… In a world where pirating is becoming the norm and the RIAA has filed more lawsuits than you’ve had breakfasts, having a solid grasp of copyright is nothing, if not useful.
In the article, I covered:
- What copyright is
- What can be copyrighted (and what can’t be)
- How copyright is created
- Underlying rights
- Term of copyright
- What happens when a work goes out of copyright
- Exceptions to copyright (like fair use, or what’s called in Australia fair dealings, as well as parody and satire).
Screen Hub is a most excellent industry publication, and articles are normally behind a paywall. However, you can get to the full copyright article using that link.
(Amazon), which he deliberately shot the same way he did 
(again, Amazon) – 12 shooting days, unknown actors, and a $25,000 budget. Another innovation: it was released first, not in theatres, but on iTunes. More and more filmmakers (like 
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