Libraries vs. Big Streaming – an unfinished tale of copyright and disruption

A desperate call appeared on the VideoLib listerv. “13th,” a much-lauded social-issue documentary, nominated for an Oscar, could not be shown in class, to groups, or placed in an archive of important 2016 films. It was showing only on Netflix, where no such rights are usually available. How, the post asked, can it be obtained?

In this case, a reprieve came when Ava DuVernay, the filmmaker, intervened with Netflix and tweeted it out. Public showings would be allowed (although so far, the archiving problem remains). Such is the Age of Streaming, where most born-digital programming on Netflix, Amazon Prime and other direct-to-consumer platforms comes only via stream, encumbered by highly restricted terms of use.

(to read more, please go to the Media Matters Blog, published courtesy of the National Media Market).