Test Suite of Fair Use Vids

The Organization For Transformative Works has submitted a reply comment in support of the EFF's proposed DMCA exemption to allow the extraction of clips from a DVD for inclusion in noncommercial remix videos, such as fanvids, that are found to be fair use. The EFF proposal can be found here: Comment of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (PDF, or view as HTML); the full text of the OTW comment can be found here: Reply Comment of the Organization of Transformative Works (PDF, or view as HTML).

The OTW's response to the Copyright Office's first set of supplemental questions can be found here: OTW Response To Initial Supplemental Questions re: DVD And Screen Capture (PDF, or view as HTML).

Responses to a second set of supplemental questions can be found here: Joint Supporters Response To Supplemental Questions On Proposed DVD-Related DMCA Exemptions (PDF, or view as HTML), and here: OTW & EFF Response To Supplemental Questions, Specific To Noncommercial Video Remix Creators (PDF, or view as HTML).

The OTW believes that noncommercial works that make creative use of existing copyrighted material, such as fanvids, are transformative, and that transformative works are legitimate under US copyright law.

Vidding is a Legitimate Artistic and Culturally Valuable Pursuit that Represents an Established and Growing Community.

Women's Work, by Sisabet and Luminosity

Vids remix the source material in such a way as to provide a new narrative, usually commenting on or critiquing that source. The much-discussed vid "Women's Work," by Sisabet and Luminosity, is based on Supernatural, a television series about two ghost-hunting brothers. However, the vid itself contains barely even a glimpse of the protagonists; instead, it cuts together images of women from countless episodes of the show, women who are shown only as eroticized, suffering, or demonized. One commentator described it as "a doctoral thesis in the misogyny of basic, unexamined story structures . . . the vid explicitly and viscerally demonstrates how so many of the stories we know and re-tell depend on the suffering of women." "Women's Work" was featured in New York Magazine, and Luminosity's vid "Vogue" was cited as "the best fan video of the year" in 2007.

Vidding Promotes Both Technical Ability and Creativity.

This Is How It Works, by Lim

"This is How it Works" is composed nearly frame-by-frame from source footage, taken from the television series Stargate Atlantis, not only re-cut but reworked visually using image editing software. An ongoing animation of numbers is generated by the rhythm of the background music; this is part of the vid’s message about the dual nature of character Rodney McKay, a scientist who wanted to be a musician. After sharing the vid, Lim wrote up extensive notes on her process, detailing step by step how she created the effects. "This is How it Works" displays not only technical skill but also artistic sensibility. One of Lim's other vids, "Us", is currently in an exhibition, Mediated, at the California Museum of Photography.

Vids Are Forms of Legitimate Cultural Criticism.

Handlebars, by Seah and Margie

Seah and Margie's "Handlebars" is an examination of the character of the Doctor in Doctor Who, as well as a more general comment on the nature of power and responsibility. The vid begins with images that illustrate the Doctor's whimsical nature, and progresses through the more dangerous aspects of his adventures as well as his smaller exercises of power, finally ending with images of the violence and destruction at his hands (in the name of the greater good). The Doctor is the hero of his eponymous television show; the vid works as a powerful criticism of the show’s moral blind spots by recontextualizing events viewers have already seen. The vid, in which the Doctor's acts are condensed to the most relevant and meaningful images, viscerally conveys its critique of the character, especially in the context of the matching song lyrics: "My cause is noble / my power is pure . . . And I can do anything with no permission . . . I can end the planet in a holocaust."

Vids Propose Alternate Readings and Realities.

Closer by T. Jonesy and Killa

"Closer" is a Star Trek vid that eroticizes violent encounters between the characters Kirk and Spock. As Henry Jenkins pointed out in his discussion of "Closer" in How to Watch a Fan-Vid: "[s]uch works certainly interpret the original series but not in a sense that would be recognized by most Literature teachers. They are not simply trying to recover what the original producers meant. They are trying to entertain hypotheticals, address what if questions, and propose alternate realities." Indeed, the opening title to "Closer" asks "What if they hadn’t made it to Vulcan on time?" before creating a fictionalized scenario in response to this question. It is a disquieting vid for many fans, but it is meant to be. It draws parallels between sexual violence and the violation of mind-reading and also mirrors some of the more controversial themes in the fiction that fans have written about the Star Trek episode "Amok Time" for decades.