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Answerman - Are AMVs And Other Fan Works Really "Fair Use?"

Its a blanket license, not a per song license. [...] I'm sure radio stations have something similar worked out. Can you imagine the amount of money spent if they had to pay every record company $5,000?

That bit about conventions having to pay into ASCAP is interesting. I'd be curious to know at what point that becomes cost prohibitive. I would guess that the cost varies depending on the size of the convention, so smaller conventions wouldn't necessarily be priced out, but if the AMV contest isn't well-attended, it might not be worth doing at all.

Holy crap, so a convention like Otakon would have to pay about $5,000 per song? The document specifies a convention as an event lasting less than 14 days, so if it is only 3 days could they negotiate a discount?

Or what about the fact that the AMV rooms can only hold a certain amount of people, like a few hundred. Would that maximum room capacity number be used for the price instead?

Watching some AMVs was how I found out about Linkin Park some years earlier.

Without AMVs, Linkin Park would be forgotten. Can't be sure how I feel about that.

May I upload a video, such as an anime music video, using FUNimation anime?

We cannot expressly authorize you to upload video or use FUNimation's content. We can tell you, however, that we do not plan to take legal action against creators/distributors of anime-based media that qualifies as a fair use of the underlying animation. Nor do we tend to remove such media intentionally, provided that the video is clearly marked in a way that would identify it as a fair use [in the title] such as a satire, parody, review or critique. For more on fair use, please see this Wikipedia entry:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use

Also, please bear in mind that video streaming services such as YouTube occasionally employ "video fingerprinting" technology to identify and remove videos containing ANY unauthorized footage, whether it's arguably a fair use or not.

In summary, while we cannot expressly authorize you to upload such media, we will not actively seek to remove any that you do decide to upload, provided that it is [and is readily identifiable as] a fair use of the media, such as a satire, parody, AMV, critique or review.

What was shown in the AMV track was one thing but what really scared us a lot were people playing MP3s and boomboxes in public parts of the event facility. The con had no control over that and had no desire to look like thugs hunting down illegal music performances. So we had to make sure all of that use was covered by the electronic reproduction license.

It looks like that is an option from ASCAP's radio station license page, but I doubt most of the large/commercial stations utilize it. The easy way to tell is pay attention when a clip of something plays. Generally, they will cut-off at 9-10 seconds, which means they are probably counting specific content and trying to fall under fair use.