Filmmaking Myths (Julie's Film School)

Public Domain, Fair Use, the Eight-Second Rule, and Other Amateur Filmmaker Myths

Recently, U.S. District Judge George H. King ruled that “Happy Birthday,” probably the most widely sung song in the world, is, indeed, in the public domain. (http://boston.cbslocal.com/2015/09/23/happy-birthday-song-public-domain/)

That’s great news for most musicians and artists everywhere, at least those who take copyright law very, very seriously. However, there are others who thumb their noses at such restrictions on their so-called freedoms.

You’ve heard songs, both modern and classic, played during a YouTube video or on a local podcast. A snippet here and there – no harm done, right? WRONG!

You need permission to play any part of a recorded, copy-written song, whether the whole thing or an eight-second ”sample.” As artists and filmmakers ourselves, it is incumbent on all of us to honor copyright.

“But we’re amateurs. We’re small potatoes. No one will come after us.” That is a lousy and totally unprofessional attitude. And so long as amateur filmmakers has such an attitude, they will never be more than hacks and hobbyists.

Public domain isn’t just a catch phrase to hide behind in order to play whatever song or movie you like. It’s a legal concept that is codified in law. Just because a movie is old, it does not necessarily follow that it is in the public domain.

In the same vein, calling something “fair use” doesn’t make it so. If you found it on a news web site, the news web site holds the copyright. If you found it on the Internet Movie Database, the IMDB or the respective studios hold the copyright. If you found it on a photography blog, the photographer holds the copyright.

You can’t use it, and if you do, you are breaking the law – and copyright law doesn’t distinguish between professional and amateur.

~ The End ~