Defending Fair Use: Copyright, Clearances and Creativity in Film and Media
Speaker: Michael C. Donaldson

Date: Wednesday, February 4
Time: 12-1pm
Location: Meyerson Conference Room

Michael C. Donaldson, a copyright and intellectual property lawyer instrumental in representing independent filmmakers, will be coming to Penn to speak on the topic of "Defending Fair Use: Copyright, Clearances and Creativity in Film and Media." Michael's expertise as a practicing lawyer working on high profile cases of fair use and copyright and his experience working with the entertainment industry give him a very interesting perspective on the issues of copyright and intellectual property. This should be an exciting opportunity for anyone interested in fair use and its application in the creative world of entertainment and media.


Michael C. Donaldson is an entertainment attorney who has been fighting for independent filmmakers for over thirty years. In addition to representing writers, producers and directors, he serves as General Counsel to Film Independent (home of the Independent Spirit Awards and the Los Angeles Film Festival) and the Writers Guild Foundation.

Michael is the go-to attorney for fair use and other clearance-related issues. A few of his notable accomplishments include:

• Serving on the Advisory Committee for the Documentary Filmmakers' Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use and being the only attorney in private practice to serve on the drafting committee for the recently released Statement of Best Practices for On-line Video.
• Serving on the Advisory Committee of the Stanford Fair Use Project.
• Successfully negotiating with Media Professional Insurance Company, Chubb Insurance Company, and other companies to offer fair use riders on the E&O insurance policies which allow many films to be made under the fair use doctrine.
• One of the key attorneys assisting in the drafting and lobbying for Orphan Works legislation.
• Sole American attorney who assisted in the drafting of the Rome Resolution of 2007 to harmonize Fair Use across the European Union.
• Former President of the International Documentary Association, where he organized and led the Documentary Credits Coalition which negotiated with the cable networks to prevent the wholesale migration of credits from the screen to the internet.

His book, Clearance and Copyright, the third edition of which was just released in September 2008, is used in over 50 film schools and has become the standard reference book for the industry. Michael also wrote Negotiating for Dummies (now in its second edition and translated into ten languages), Fearless Negotiating (published in hardback in 2007 by McGraw Hill), and The E-Z Legal Guide to Trademarks & Copyrights.

Michael lectures frequently at law schools and film schools across the United States and in Europe. He is an avid skier, world-wide hiker and kayaker, and award-winning photographer. He won a gold medal at the 1998 Senior Olympics for Parallel Bars and won a silver medal on the rings. Website with more info at http://www.michaelcdonaldson.com/

For more information:
shawnmar@pobox.upenn.edu