About Us - AFace

WHAT IS A FACE

A FACE (Association for Fair Audiovisual Copyright in Europe) is a project aimed at promoting a FAIR copyright in the audiovisual world (documentary and feature films, music, etc.), i.e. a copyright realizing a BALANCE between the interests of rights holders and those of the users (private, as well professional) seeking access to culture.

The original purpose of copyright is protecting the interest of right holders ONLY TO THE EXTENT a general progress of culture is assured. As it has been rightly pointed out, "If copyright, cynically, departs from its purpose, piracy becomes an easy option"; which certainly is not a desirable result. Our concern is that copyright has already departed from its purpose. Our goal is to help it to re-find its lost way.

The A FACE project does NOT wish to promote a free and indiscriminate copyright. It only aims to re-establish the conditions for a fair copyright. The members of A FACE respect, and in many cases live on, copyrights. However, they do recognize that copyright needs to remain "fair" in order to be respected.

aF©e in the Communia Network

In July 2009 aFace has been selected as one of the ten new members of COMMUNIA - The European Thematic Network on the Digital Public Domain

The COMMUNIA Thematic Network is a point of reference for theoretical analysis and strategic policy discussion of existing and emerging issues concerning the public domain in the digital environment. Funded by the European Commission within the eContentplus framework, the 3-years long project expects to provide policy guidelines that will help each stakeholder involved - public and private, from the local to the European and global level. COMMUNIA is coordinated by the Politecnico of Torino's NEXA Research Center for Internet and Society. It started its activities on 1 September 2007 and will end on 31 August 2010. For further details:

PROMOTERS

The A FACE project was initiated, and so far has been led, by a working group of individuals and entities within the documentary FILMMAKERS community (filmmakers; authors; industry associations; legal experts). The project was started to promote a debate in Europe as to the role of copyright, which was born to protect authors, but ultimately has grown so much as to sometime act as a constraint to creativity and the spread of culture. Soon the debate has focussed on the need for a more effective regime of exceptions to copyright, and in general for a more fair balance between the respective interests of rights holders and users.

Recently the project is being joined by other members of the audiovisual community as a whole: journalists, librarians, archivists and private users. It is in the interest of all these people today that copyright re-find its lost way. The project remains rooted by the filmmakers, but aims at protecting ANY USERS of the audiovisual world.

BACKGROUND

The project took its start from the observation of two facts.

The first fact is a negative one. In the past few years, while copyright protection has become more and more strong and harmonized within the EU, the rules on the so-called EXCEPTIONS to copyright have not. The consequence is that, using third party's copyrighted works through exceptions (e.g. quoting short part of such works for purposes of criticism or review) in the EU, although theoretically allowed, is very difficult in practice. One obstacle is that the laws governing the exceptions (e.g. for the right of quotation) are formulated differently in each EU Member State. Another obstacle is that copyright owners would try to discourage beneficiaries of the exceptions in any way from using them - typically, by advocating that there is no right of quotation of any sort, and asking them for the payment of pricy licensing fees. Such obstacles make the recourse to exceptions an unfeasible option for a European filmmaker.

The second fact is a positive one, and is represented by the positive experience made in the US with the development of the "Documentary Filmmakers' Statement of Best Practices In Fair Use" (the "US BEST PRACTICES" link). The US Best Practices have set forth simple criteria to establish 'what is fair use' in four typical situations occurring in documentary filmmaking i.e.:

When the copyrighted materials are used as the object of social, political or cultural critique;
When the copyrighted materials of popular culture are used to make an argument or point;
When the copyrighted content is captured in the process of filming something else (so-called "Incidental capture");
When the copyrighted materials are used in an historical sequence.

The US Best Practices, having simplified the understanding of what is fair use, and having been adopted by most filmmakers and accepted, or at least acknowledged, by other industry players (such as broadcasters and insurance companies), have achieved a very important goal for filmmakers and the market in general - there have been fewer disputes on fair use claims made by filmmakers, as well as cut in costs of licensing fees and insurance premiums.

Having in mind the positive results of the US experience, the Working Group has investigated whether a similar experience was possible in the EU, or what alternative options were available, to make the life of filmmakers, and users in general, 'more liveable' in spite of the limits of the existing EU laws on exceptions. The conclusions of this preliminary analysis can be summarized as following:

- The US and the EU legal systems are very different. The US situation is 'better' in that the fair use is a flexible clause that applies in all of the States of the Union. The EU situation is 'worse' in that the EU exceptions are narrowly defined and harmonized only in some part in the EU States.
- In spite of these difficulties, clarifying the common grounds of the existing EU exceptions could make it easier for filmmakers and users to beneficiate of them. Therefore, developing Best Practices for documentary filmmaking would be an operation worth doing also in Europe. Similar Best Practices could be developed for other sectors such as cultural institutions, archives, etc.

OBJECTIVES

The general goal of the project, as said, is promoting a FAIR copyright. A FACE plans to achieve such a goal through various means, the most important of which is a DIALOGUE among the relevant market players such as authors, filmmakers, insurance companies, collecting societies, etc..

Other more specific objectives of the project are:

With respect to existing copyrighted works:
- on the short term, helping users, filmmakers in particular, to use such works through exceptions, such as the US fair use doctrine or the equivalent EU exceptions (thus for free and not asking copyright owners for permission where it is the case)
- on the medium and long term, by lobbying for a reform of the existing EU laws on exceptions and limitations, possibly on the model of the US fair use doctrine and in any event more liberal
With respect to new copyrighted works:
- by encouraging creators to make such works available to the public under conditions more open than the traditional copyright terms, for example under Creative Commonslicenses, at least when such works are used for purposes of criticism or review or not-for-profit purposes;
With respect to all works:
- by helping filmmakers to produce and distribute works regardless of market, political, legal or other constraints:
- by helping any initiatives aimed at encouraging public and fair access to culture, public domain works and orphan works.

ABOUT | PROMOTERS | ACTIVITIES | DOCUMENTS | CREDITS



	WHAT IS A FACE A FACE (Association for Fair Audiovisual Copyright in Europe) is a project aimed at promoting a FAIR copyright in the audiovisual world (documentary and feature films, music, etc.), i.e. a copyright realizing a BALANCE between the interests of rights holders and those of the users (private, as well professional) seeking access to culture. The original purpose of copyright is protecting the interest of right holders ONLY TO THE EXTENT a general progress of culture is assured. As it has been rightly pointed out, "If copyright, cynically, departs from its purpose, piracy becomes an easy option"; which certainly is not a desirable result. Our concern is that copyright has already departed from its purpose. Our goal is to help it to re-find its lost way. The A FACE project does NOT wish to promote a free and indiscriminate copyright. It only aims to re-establish the conditions for a fair copyright. The members of A FACE respect, and in many cases live on, copyrights. However, they do recognize that copyright needs to remain "fair" in order to be respected. aF©e in the Communia Network In July 2009 aFace has been selected as one of the ten new members of COMMUNIA - The European Thematic Network on the Digital Public Domain The COMMUNIA Thematic Network is a point of reference for theoretical analysis and strategic policy discussion of existing and emerging issues concerning the public domain in the digital environment. Funded by the European Commission within the eContentplus framework, the 3-years long project expects to provide policy guidelines that will help each stakeholder involved - public and private, from the local to the European and global level. COMMUNIA is coordinated by the Politecnico of Torino's NEXA Research Center for Internet and Society. It started its activities on 1 September 2007 and will end on 31 August 2010. For further details: PROMOTERS The A FACE project was initiated, and so far has been led, by a working group of individuals and entities within the documentary FILMMAKERS community (filmmakers; authors; industry associations; legal experts). The project was started to promote a debate in Europe as to the role of copyright, which was born to protect authors, but ultimately has grown so much as to sometime act as a constraint to creativity and the spread of culture. Soon the debate has focussed on the need for a more effective regime of exceptions to copyright, and in general for a more fair balance between the respective interests of rights holders and users. Recently the project is being joined by other members of the audiovisual community as a whole: journalists, librarians, archivists and private users. It is in the interest of all these people today that copyright re-find its lost way. The project remains rooted by the filmmakers, but aims at protecting ANY USERS of the audiovisual world. BACKGROUND The project took its start from the observation of two facts. The first fact is a negative one. In the past few years, while copyright protection has become more and more strong and harmonized within the EU, the rules on the so-called EXCEPTIONS to copyright have not. The consequence is that, using third party's copyrighted works through exceptions (e.g. quoting short part of such works for purposes of criticism or review) in the EU, although theoretically allowed, is very difficult in practice. One obstacle is that the laws governing the exceptions (e.g. for the right of quotation) are formulated differently in each EU Member State. Another obstacle is that copyright owners would try to discourage beneficiaries of the exceptions in any way from using them - typically, by advocating that there is no right of quotation of any sort, and asking them for the payment of pricy licensing fees. Such obstacles make the recourse to exceptions an unfeasible option for a European filmmaker. The second fact is a positive one, and is represented by the positive experience made in the US with the development of the "Documentary Filmmakers' Statement of Best Practices In Fair Use" (the "US BEST PRACTICES" link). The US Best Practices have set forth simple criteria to establish 'what is fair use' in four typical situations occurring in documentary filmmaking i.e.: When the copyrighted materials are used as the object of social, political or cultural critique; When the copyrighted materials of popular culture are used to make an argument or point; When the copyrighted content is captured in the process of filming something else (so-called "Incidental capture"); When the copyrighted materials are used in an historical sequence. The US Best Practices, having simplified the understanding of what is fair use, and having been adopted by most filmmakers and accepted, or at least acknowledged, by other industry players (such as broadcasters and insurance companies), have achieved a very important goal for filmmakers and the market in general - there have been fewer disputes on fair use claims made by filmmakers, as well as cut in costs of licensing fees and insurance premiums. Having in mind the positive results of the US experience, the Working Group has investigated whether a similar experience was possible in the EU, or what alternative options were available, to make the life of filmmakers, and users in general, 'more liveable' in spite of the limits of the existing EU laws on exceptions. The conclusions of this preliminary analysis can be summarized as following: - The US and the EU legal systems are very different. The US situation is 'better' in that the fair use is a flexible clause that applies in all of the States of the Union. The EU situation is 'worse' in that the EU exceptions are narrowly defined and harmonized only in some part in the EU States. - In spite of these difficulties, clarifying the common grounds of the existing EU exceptions could make it easier for filmmakers and users to beneficiate of them. Therefore, developing Best Practices for documentary filmmaking would be an operation worth doing also in Europe. Similar Best Practices could be developed for other sectors such as cultural institutions, archives, etc. OBJECTIVES The general goal of the project, as said, is promoting a FAIR copyright. A FACE plans to achieve such a goal through various means, the most important of which is a DIALOGUE among the relevant market players such as authors, filmmakers, insurance companies, collecting societies, etc.. Other more specific objectives of the project are: With respect to existing copyrighted works: on the short term, helping users, filmmakers in particular, to use such works through exceptions, such as the US fair use doctrine or the equivalent EU exceptions (thus for free and not asking copyright owners for permission where it is the case) on the medium and long term, by lobbying for a reform of the existing EU laws on exceptions and limitations, possibly on the model of the US fair use doctrine and in any event more liberal With respect to new copyrighted works: by encouraging creators to make such works available to the public under conditions more open than the traditional copyright terms, for example under Creative Commonslicenses, at least when such works are used for purposes of criticism or review or not-for-profit purposes; With respect to all works: by helping filmmakers to produce and distribute works regardless of market, political, legal or other constraints: by helping any initiatives aimed at encouraging public and fair access to culture, public domain works and orphan works.
	ABOUT \| PROMOTERS \| ACTIVITIES \| DOCUMENTS \| CREDITS