Defense for Fair Use

Lauren Nixon CSE 624 Fall 11/18/2013

My video I created was designed to be used to introduce students to their weeks group discussion question in a unit on the Sun-Earth-Moon system. The video asks students to consider what would happen to Earth if one day the Moon disappeared. This video targets fourth through sixth grade students, therefore I incorporated clips from two popular movies Despicable Me and Despicable Me 2 to add interest and humor to the video. The video also incorporates YouTube videos that show time lapse of the Moons phases, a time lapse of tides going in and out, and an educational video that demonstrates how the Moon causes the Earths tides. My video also incorporates three images one of the Moon in the night sky, a werewolf from an old movie, and an image of a head with a light bulb. The materials I used are copyrighted but were incorporated into my video using the Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Online Video, and are therefore legally integrated. The copyrighted materials I employed are fair use because they are used for commenting and critiquing, shown to illustrate a point, and used for the purpose of launching a discussion. The main clip used in my video is from Disney/Pixars Despicable Me, in which the character Gru steals the Moon. The use of this clip was for students to critique whether or not what happened in the clip, most importantly the tide withdrawing, could be an effect if the Moon disappeared. The Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Online Video indicates that a portion of copyrighted material can be used as long as only what is needed is used and is used for critiquing. The clip from Despicable Me that I used is only twenty-three seconds long and is used for critique if what happens in the video has any fact to it. The videos that show the Moon phases, time lapse tides, and how the Moon causes the tides, are also integrated in the video using fair use. All three videos are used in order to illustrate a concept that is being discussed. The Code of Best Practices in Fair Use Online Video state that copyrighted material can be used for illustration as long as an appropriate amount of the work is taken, not in excess, and that credit is given to the author either in the body of text or in the credits. With all three videos I only used what I needed to illustrate all of the Moon phases, the up and down motion of the tides and how the Moon causes the tides on Earth. I also gave proper attribution at the end of my movie in the credits for all movie clips including Despicable Me and Despicable Me 2. Lastly, all of the copyrighted materials that I used in my video were legally integrated using fair use because they were used for the purpose of launching a discussion. The Code of Best Practices in Fair Use Online Video (2008) states that the use of copyrighted material in order to spur discussion is the heart of freedom of expression and demonstrates the importance of fair use to maintain this freedom, therefore my use of video clips and images are fair use

because they are used to launch a discussion about what would happen if the Moon disappeared (p.8). Since I used the Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Online Video, my video is an example of fair use. This is because the copyrighted material that I employed in my video was used for critiquing, to illustrate a point or concept, and was incorporated for the purpose of launching a discussion. References: (2008). Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Online Video. Center for Social Media. Retrieved from: http://www.cmsimpact.org/sites/default/files/online_best_practices_in_fair_use.pdf