FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 26, 2010
OTW HELPS SECURE DMCA EXEMPTION FOR REMIX VIDDING
Noncommercial Artistic Statements Are Legitimate, Protected
New York, N.Y. — The Organization for Transformative Works announces a success in protecting fan vids and other forms of transformative remix video. Today the Library of Congress released its long-awaited ruling granting a Digital Millennium Copyright Act exemption to makers of noncommercial remix videos, including fan vids, anime music videos, and political remixes. The OTW worked with the EFF on the proposed exemption, submitting a reply comment and supporting the comment with live testimony focused on vidding, a type of remix culture that repurposes and comments on popular media sources.
This ruling represents a significant victory for fan vidders and other remix artists. Previously, film studies professors held the only DMCA exemption for DVD ripping. Now makers of noncommercial video are also permitted to circumvent DMCA technologies if they need to in order make artistic statements.
“This ruling puts the focus back where it should be, on fair use of existing works, instead of imposing counterintuitive and unintelligible rules about how remix artists can get their raw materials,” said Rebecca Tushnet, OTW Board Member and professor at the Georgetown University Law Center. “The Copyright Office recognized that noncommercial remix is an important type of fair use.”
“Vidding and other forms of video remix are a form of speech,” said Francesca Coppa, OTW Board Member, Director of Film Studies and associate professor of English at Muhlenberg College. “If we want to promote multimedia literacy, we need to let people speak the language of mass media without criminalizing them. This exemption is crucial for remix artists.”
“This is a victory for the fan community and for everyone interested in freedom for transformative works. Fan creators and remix artists are part of a dynamic conversation with popular media, personalities, and events,” added OTW Board Member Allison Morris. “We are proud that the Library of Congress recognized the importance of this conversation.”
Established in 2007, The Organization for Transformative Works (OTW) is a nonprofit organization established by fans to serve the interests of fans by providing access to and preserving the history of fanworks and fan culture in its myriad forms. The OTW believes that fanworks are transformative and that transformative works are legitimate.
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Media Contact:
Francesca Coppa
Organization for Transformative Works
[email protected]