Policy Advocacy

Fair use is critical to protecting free speech about social, political, and cultural issues. Here are projects and stories from our work that show how important defending fair use is to protecting freedom of speech.

We're off to a fast start in 2017. Our clients include a nonprofit dedicated to financial transparency in our elections, documentary films on the transgender community and media representation of muslims, and a nonprofit that introduces kids to writing and recording music, to name a few.  We also participated in advocating for balanced copyright reform during the recent Copyright Week.

Our book Don't Panic is a hit! It has already been adopted in 9 college and graduate classes to teach legal concepts to creators. Help us celebrate by picking one up from Amazon or get $4 off at this link when you use the code ""EHCBPZHD".  If you find it useful please take the time to write us a review!  If you're a teacher or professor and want an evaluation copy and assistance incorporating the book into your teaching let us know by sending an email to support@newmediarights.org.

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Come join us February 11 from 12pm-2pm for a workshop on financing and distributing your films and video content! Here's a link to buy tickets.

The workshop is part of San Diego Film Week will be held at Studio Unseen, 4608 Park Blvd, San Diego, CA 92116.

Anyone creating independent TV, film, or online content has to wear many diverse hats these days. To be a professional filmmaker means not just knowing how to produce film, but how to handle financing and distribution. Come learn about the legal and business aspects of film financing and worldwide distribution.

The workshop will be in two parts. First Jeff Deverett of Deverett Media will give a thorough overview on financing & distribution. Then, we will have an open Q&A with a panel of experienced business and legal experts, including attorneys Valerie Nemeth of the San Diego Sports and Entertainment and Sports Lawyers, Inc and Art Neill of New Media Rights along with other special guests with particular expertise in financing and distribution.

Happy Copyright Week! We respond to over 500 requests for legal services every year, and over two thirds of these relate to copyright law.  Copyright law protects the work of creators, but it also controls how the culture around us can be reused and commented upon. This week a community of awesome organizations are offering our visions of a balanced copyright future.  

Each day there will be posts on a specific theme.  Since much of what we do day in and out is copyright law, we're going to link you to some of our best resources, new and old, on copyright law for the given topics.

Copyright Week image photo credit - EFF under a CC-BY 3.0 license

New Media Rights is proud to provide legal services to social impact films, including Dianne Griffin and Erica Jordan's new documentary film Painted Nails from DigAll Media.  Painted Nails tells the story of a San Francisco nail salon owner's efforts to address public health challenges in the nail salon industry.  

A presentation to producers pitching programs for the new KPBS Explore program.