[Frameworks] question about fees for permission to use material: an update

[nicky.hamlyn]

Always the way. 'Necessity' etcŠ

From:  Caryn Cline <carynycline at gmail.com>
Reply-To:  Experimental Film Discussion List
<frameworks at jonasmekasfilms.com>
Date:  Thu, 6 Mar 2014 11:23:46 -0800
To:  Experimental Film Discussion List <frameworks at jonasmekasfilms.com>
Subject:  Re: [Frameworks] question about fees for permission to use
material: an update

Hello everyone,

After some consideration about whether to pay for permission to use as
narration an essay from the NY Times, I decided to dig deeper, do more
research, and write my own narration.  In doing more research, I discovered
aspects of the situation I had not known about before. that were not covered
in the inspirational essay, and I'm incorporating those into my film.

Best,

CC


On Mon, Feb 24, 2014 at 5:23 PM, Caryn Cline <carynycline at gmail.com> wrote:
> Dear Francisco, Jim, Gene, David, Ted and Dan.
> 
> Thank you all for your insights and advice.  I really appreciate your taking
> the time to respond to my query.  Frameworks is such a great resource!
> 
> Best wishes,
> 
> CC
> 
> 
> On Thu, Feb 20, 2014 at 1:04 PM, Francisco Torres <fjtorrespr at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>> If you modify it ''substantially'' it becomes a different text. Think William
>> Burroughs...
>> 
>> 
>> On Thu, Feb 20, 2014 at 4:48 PM, Caryn Cline <carynycline at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Dear Frameworkers,
>>>  
>>> I¹m writing to ask your advice.  I¹m working on a short handmade,
>>> experimental film that takes as its ³script² a slightly modified version of
>>> an essay I found in the New York Times, which I plan to use as a voiceover
>>> narration on the soundtrack.  I wrote to the author to ask his permission to
>>> use it, which he gladly gave with this caveat: everything he writes for the
>>> paper is owned by them.  He gave me the name of someone to contact at the
>>> paper, who sent me to the paper¹s licensing people. I decided to follow that
>>> lead, to see where it went.  [I have not had good luck with trying to get
>>> permission for a reasonable fee before, but I decided to try, as an
>>> experience.]
>>>  
>>> Well, needless to say the people who license for the Times want me to pay
>>> them what I regard as way too much money for the use of the essay--$800 for
>>> rights for festivals, galleries, streaming, broadcast, etc.‹for the life of
>>> the title.   As you know, it is difficult to communicate to people in these
>>> positions that there is absolutely no commercial value in the film.    The
>>> money is about 1/3 of my overall budget.   Some of my handmade film buddies
>>> advised me to forget about the permission and just use it anyway, but I feel
>>> funny about doing that now, and as one friend who works in the business
>>> cautioned: my project and I are on their radar now.  Should I try to talk
>>> them down?  (They originally asked for $1300, so this is a considerable
>>> reduction from outrageously expensive to merely quite expensive.)  Should I
>>> claim ³fair use,² and use the text anyway?  What are the chances that they
>>> would come after me?    I¹d appreciate any advice or hearing about your own
>>> experiences with this.  Many thanks.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> CC  
>>> 
>>> -- 
>>> Caryn Cline
>>> co-producer, Acts of Witness
>>> www.actsofwitness.com <http://www.actsofwitness.com/>
>>> vimeo.com/carynyc <http://vimeo.com/carynyc>
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> FrameWorks mailing list
>>> FrameWorks at jonasmekasfilms.com
>>> https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks
>>> 
>> 
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> FrameWorks mailing list
>> FrameWorks at jonasmekasfilms.com
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>> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Caryn Cline
> co-producer, Acts of Witness
> www.actsofwitness.com <http://www.actsofwitness.com/>
> vimeo.com/carynyc <http://vimeo.com/carynyc>
> 
> 



-- 
Caryn Cline
co-producer, Acts of Witness
www.actsofwitness.com <http://www.actsofwitness.com/>
vimeo.com/carynyc <http://vimeo.com/carynyc>


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