I’ve been posting bits and pieces of this story in my journal, but since it’s officially a copyright issue, thought I’d share it with the larger LISNews crowd. The Bloomington Pantagraph is asking filmmaker Michael Moore for $1.00 in damages and an apology after a letter-to-the-editor they published was used in Fahrenheit 9/11.
In a letter drafted Thursday and sent to Moore and the movie’s Santa Monica, Calif.-based distributor, Lions Gate Entertainment, the newspaper admonished him for his “unauthorized … misleading” use of The Pantagraph in the film. He also was cited for copyright infringement.
The misleading part is that a letter to the editor with the headline “Latest Florida recount shows Gore won election” was altered to look like a news story and shown briefly in the film along with similar headlines. The puzzling thing, to me anyway, is the sloppy work done by Moore’s film crew. Not only was the letter reformatted and presented in a mock-up of the paper, but the date was different than the original.
I wish I knew more about documentary technique and copyright. Gut instinct tells me that this crosses the line.
“yellow film-making”
This is disappointing. Although I haven’t seen the full version of the movie yet (embarrassed to admit that my husband bought a boot legged and extremely truncated copy – complete with audience member standing up in mid screen a la Mystery Science Theater), I did see some and plan to see the whole film, eventually. I never considered Michael Moore’s film to be a true documentary and, yet I still find this misrepresentation of the newspaper’s article to be particularly unfortunate. Why did he need to do this? And please, no diatribes here, if possible. Why couldn’t he just as easily have chosen a different newspaper with a real headline? There were plenty of them.
Re:”yellow film-making”
Wow, I wouldn’t admit to felonies [also] in an online forum.
Now we all know that you were just speaking in jest because we know that librarians respect copyright.
I really don’t think Moore had anything to do with the headline/Pantagraph fiasco. I’m sure that his staff in their zeal to make a controversial film created the fake newspaper. Rather than go to the library and actually look at the newspaper, or the microfilm they just made it up. I don’t think it is a conspiracy, but laziness and incompetence.
Moore Book
There is a new Michael Moore Book out called Michael Moore Is A Big Fat Stupid White Man
Re:”yellow film-making” 😉 Actually, I don’t approve of my husband’s buying the copy, and hope that my marriage to him won’t make me culpable for his “felonious” act…but what about that old Blind Faith album that I was given way back when in 1975?
Well, I’m not a libarian – yet!
Seriously, if you’re right about Moore’s staff just being “lazy” in their zeal, that doesn’t make me overly happy either. And, staff or no staff shouldn’t the director/creator review his film more carefully?
I’ve been away for about a week and am guessing that there hasn’t been much follow-up on this topic by the offended newspaper, but haven’t had a chance to read much at all here.