Well… about that. For everything that this administration will be remembered for, and we don’t have to go down the list, the response to Hurricane Katrina will surely be near the top of the list.
There is a movement to mobilize people in support of more aggressive federal action to help the people of New Orleans who are still struggling. So a bunch of groups get together and want to get people engaged. OK, quiz time. What’s the best way to do that? Yes, video.
Robert Greenwald of Brave New Films made a 4-minute piece I have pasted below. They put it on YouTube, embedded into this landing page, and then sent emails to all their lists, all at the same time. The idea is to get enough YouTube views to push the video into the Most Viewed, which will put it in front of hundreds of thousands of people who otherwise wouldn’t see it.
Can you imagine that debris hasn’t even been cleared, two years after the hurricane? Can you imagine 80-year-olds needing to sleep in gutted homes because FEMA is starting to charge them to stay in the trailers? It is hard to imagine. But when you see it, you know it’s real.
Please check out the campaign landing page for a nice look at current best practices in microsites like this one. It has the petition right on the home page, a URL that’s easy to remember and fits the content, the video as the center of attention right next to the form, only a few links on the page, clear and concise content, a push to get bloggers like me to host the video to get more views, and a coordinated strategy with multiple organizations.
I am here at the Yearly Kos Convention which is being held in Chicago, home of See3 Communications. For the uninitiated, Yearly Kos is a gathering of what’s called the Netroots – liberal/left bloggers who have changed the face of American politics. Kos comes from the website DailyKos, which is the top rated left/liberal blog and one of the most trafficked blogs online. Last year, the bloggers and community around the website DailyKos decided to meet in person. And because all the bloggers were coming, so came the politicians and the organizations wanting to get this community writing about these issues.
Right now I am in a session called Video for Change. Of course this is what we do here at See3. The people on the panel are all talking about hour-long or feature length documentaries. Interesting, but honestly not something that is really in the grasp of most organizations or individuals. Two of the panelists are from Robert Greenwald’s shop, Brave New Films. They do hard-hitting documentaries designed to make change – against Fox News or Wal-Mart.
I spoke at a conference with Robert Greenwald — the Make Your Documentary Matter conference from American University’s Center for Social Media. And one thing he said was that he does not believe you can make a film to be great — as in Oscar great — and make a film designed to make change. According to Greenwald, these things require different sets of choices that are not compatible.
In the session right now, Adam Chapnick from DocWorkers.com is speaking about talking to the organizations that are interested in the issue before you make the film — rather than simply making the film you want to make and then seeking an organization that can help you distribute it. In contrast, our focus at See3 is on empowering the organizations to make the films that advance their mission themselves.
Jim Gilliam is speaking now about the Wal-Mart film they did. He is saying that the research was a mix of what they got themselves and what the organizations — such as the unions — had done over time. They are talking about how the film was distributed in more than 7,000 screenings – school groups, unions, home screenings, church groups, etc.
Tracy Fleischman from Brave New Theaters is talking now about online marketing of the films. First, set up a website. She is saying that the site should be as much of a resource as possible, so people interested in the issue can use the site for research. Made short ads, had people vote on the title of the film, had people voting on different covers for the film — lots of ways to get people involved.
Adam is saying that you need to have people feel ownership — send us your videos or photos, vote on something, the more time people sign something or click the more likely they are to go the next step. He is also saying what we know from all internet marketing — create landing pages that are specific for specific types of groups and audiences.
Tracy now talking about how Brave New Films is focusing on short-form video and not the feature length pieces as they did in the past. For example, they have a site called FoxAttacks.com which is using short pieces to advocate for specific issues — for example trying to get the Nevada Democratic Party to not have a debate on Fox News.
The legal concept of “fair use” is very important to our business and is an issue you really care about, even if you don’t know it. Fair use is a carve-out of copyright law that allows people to use copyrighted material for certain uses. Parody is a great example of fair use. For example, Saturday Night Live can do a skip making fun of American Idol without having to purchase rights to that show. And, for example, we used some Jimi Hendrix in this video for Amnesty International and we didn’t pay for it. (You can learn more about Fair Use from our friends at American University’s Center for Social Media.)
The issue of fair use is complicated because there is no one to go to that will tell you if your use qualifies. The only definitive way to know is if you are sued. The dynamic here is interesting because even big media companies don’t have a big interest in suing too often and for something that just might qualify. The reason is that they might lose and the bar for fair use might be set in a way they don’t want it.
MoveOn and Brave New Films did a parody of Stephen Colbert called “Stop the Falsiness.” Viacom, the owners of Comedy Central, issued a take-down notice under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and the video disappeared from YouTube. MoveOn and Brave New Films, with the help of a great organization called the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), sued Viacom because they said this is clearly a case of fair use. Viacom backed down and the video is back up. And in exchange for dropping the suit, Viacom agreed on all kinds of consessions. From the EFF press release:
… The lawsuit was filed in federal court last month, after a parody of “The Colbert Report” was removed from YouTube following a meritless copyright complaint by Viacom. The humorous video, called “Stop the Falsiness,” was created by MoveOn and BNF using clips from the Comedy Central television series. It was a tongue-in-cheek commentary on Colbert’s portrayal of the right-wing media and parodied MoveOn’s own reputation for earnest political activism.
Viacom initially denied sending the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown notice that resulted in the removal of the video from YouTube, while saying it had no objection to “Stop the Falsiness.” However, Viacom later conceded it was the source of the demand and admitted error in taking action against the parody.
In the course of discussions with EFF and FUP, Viacom described the steps it endorses for protecting fair use and free expression as it targets copyright infringement on Internet video sites. This includes: manual review of every video that is a potential DMCA takedown target, training reviewers to avoid issuing takedown requests for fair use, and publicly stating that it does not challenge use of Viacom materials that are “creative, newsworthy or transformative” and are “a limited excerpt for non commercial purposes.”
Furthermore, in reaction to the MoveOn/BNF suit, Viacom moved the ball forward for Internet users’ rights. In order to address any similarly erroneous takedown notices in the future, Viacom has agreed to set up a website and email “hotline,” promising a review of any complaint within one business day and a reinstatement if the takedown request was in error.
