Best Copyright Movie…..Ever! A Fair(y) Use Tale

As I promised earlier in the week (albeit a bit late) here is one of the best videos I’ve ever seen about the Fair Use of Copyright for education. I know I’m slow to discover this, as I’ve found it blogged about in several places, but Eric Faden’s movie, “A Fair(y) Use Tale” is a hilarious, and overtly subversive film that uses clips from almost every Walt Disney film ever made to convey the meaning of copyright law, public domain, and how fair use exceptions for education can inspire creative presentations. The idea is to encourage creativity, while at the same time get people talking about how Disney, and other companies, have effectively lobbied to extend copyright from the original 14 years it once lasted, to the now 100 years for corporate copyrights, and how that affects new uses of old media.

I also have a simple handout with 7 questions that I gave to my 4th graders as we watched the movie, to better keep them focused, and help with discussion afterwards. Considering I’m showing them this movie the week right before Christmas and they’re all a bit hyped up, they’ve done a fantastic job of watching, and enjoying the film. You may want to play it through 2 or 3 times yourself in order to catch everything that it being said, or give your students time to watch it again on their own.Fair(y) Use Tale Hal-Sheet Handout

Download “A Fair(y) Use Tale” from the Stanford Law School’s Center for Internet & Society

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