IDA Workshop: Understanding Fair Use

In this two-hour workshop, entertainment attorney Chris Perez will clarify and simplify questions about fair use. Chris, who is a partner at Donaldson Callif Perez, current co-president of the IDA Board, and co-writer of Clearance and Copyright, 5th Edition and The American Bar Association’s Legal Guide to Independent Filmmaking, will use his extensive experience helping documentary filmmakers navigate clearance issues to break down the do’s and don’ts of fair use. He will also walk filmmakers through new updates in the law regarding the use of photographs, as well as international issues that need to be considered.

Fair use is a term frequently thrown around when discussing clearances for documentary filmmaking, but it’s often accompanied by a question mark – what exactly is fair use, and what does it cover? Giving the ability for documentary filmmakers to use archival footage, stills, and audio seemingly for free, fair use has an aura of magic and mystery. But with any fairytale, there are rules to be followed; and sometimes, it seems too good to be true. And of course, there’s the Warhol Supreme Court case hanging over every archival producer’s head.

Chris Perez
Chris specializes in all aspects of the firm’s practice, including representing independent filmmakers through development, financing, production, rights clearance and distribution. He has helped hundreds of productions secure the E&O insurance necessary to distribute their films and has established himself as an advocate for artists’ rights. In addition to representing filmmakers, Chris serves as counsel to writers, podcast producers, radio personalities, museums and foundations, as well as Film Independent, which produces the Spirit Awards and supports independent filmmakers around the world.

Chris graduated from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor with a BA in American Studies and a minor in Film and Video Studies, where he produced, directed, and wrote several student films. He earned his Juris Doctorate at the USC Gould School of Law. Prior to working with Donaldson Callif Perez, Chris worked for California Lawyers for the Arts, Technicolor, and the Cyberlaw Clinic at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School.

Chris also sits on the Board of Directors for the International Documentary Association.

Learn more here.