“Today, fair use is the major way that new makers can get unlicensed access to the cultural production of their own society. The culture that is emerging can be channeled, encouraged, even deformed, but it cannot be cut off.”

The Center for Social Media enters the discussion on User-Generated Video Content in its new report: Recut, Reframe, Recycle: Quoting Copyrighted Material in User-Generated Video Content. Funded by the Ford Foundation, the report examines the explosive growth of transformative works on the Internet. From parody to pastiche, Recut looks at trends in User-Generated Video Content, how it fits into the current framework of fair use law, and how we as a society depend on fair use to enrich our cultural heritage. Even if its just for a laugh.

“Fair use is a right to reuse copyrighted works…when the value to society is greater than the value to the copyright owner. This feature of the law is grounded in the purpose of copyright itself in U.S. law: to encourage the production of culture.”

To see the full list of videos used in the report, visit http://centerforsocialmedia.org/recutvideos.

Below are some brilliant examples of fair use of copyrighted materials.

Parody

“Lord of the Rings was too long.” Jackbenny

Political Satire

“Bush Vs. Zombies” myeverythingdotcom

Illustration.

“Evolution of Dance” judsonlaipply

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