Archive for December, 2004
Filmmaking By the Masses
Friday, December 3rd, 2004“Economists like to say that property rights are needed to foster
innovation. But the evidence is piling up in one field after
another that property rights have gotten so extensive that they
are choking new creativity. The latest example comes from the
world of filmmaking. A new report by Patricia Aufderheide and
Peter Jaszi of American University documents how the rights
clearance process is crippling the creativity of documentary
filmmakers. The report – ‘Untold Stories: Creative Consequences
of Rights Clearance Culture for Documentary Filmmakers’ – draws
upon interviews with 45 directors, editors and producers. The
report finds that filmmakers must often make significant changes
in their work because of the costs or complications of rights
clearances. (A short film, available online, also explains the
problems described in the report.)”
