This op-ed piece in the NYT touched-off a nice internets discussion here and here among other places. (Welcome, Eschaton & Matthew Yglesias readers!)

Stanford Law’s Center for Internet & Society has recently produced an entertaining explanation of copyright and fair use worth watching. The video uses Disney clips to explain the law, making the explanation itself an example of fair use. In its own way, the video tests the fair use doctrine, though, as we earlier surmised, Stanford Law likely has the resources and acumen to defend itself from spurious legal action brought by Walt Disney Corp.

Copyright law niceties aside, what corporations like Walt Disney have actually achieved in the courtroom pale in comparison to the impact such legal actions have had on our cultural discourse at large. Much like the anecdotes of exorbiant personal injury jury awards, the anecdotal stories of elementary schools and small-time artists slapped with injuctions not to use Disney (and other corporate-”owned”) properties have distorted the layperson’s understanding of the actual law and its actual processes. Even many rightful fair-users probably assume that they are “pirating” copyrighted works when, in fact, their use of material falls well within the bounds of fair use.

For a more trippy take on copyright and fair use, check out Negativland’s Gimme the Mermaid, which features angry answering machine messages from somebody’s IP counsel.