Alligator Online

Across campus and nationwide, Black History Month is being celebrated. During this time, black Americans and others pause to recognize the struggles and accomplishments of people of African descent. Song, film, speech, poetry, prose, dance, art and prayer reflect on the path that led to today.

But also today, poor copyright law threatens access to the documents of that history.

“Eyes on the Prize” is widely considered the best documentary series on the Civil Rights Movement. Stanford University professor Clayborne Carson called the 1987 series “the principal film account of the most important American social justice movement of the 20th century.”

It’s also illegal. Licensing disputes over the archival footage in the films prevent “Eyes” from being re-released or publicly performed. Individuals may watch personal copies of the films, and educators are protected by the fair use doctrine of copyright law to use the films in class. However, they must rely upon the original VHS copies, which are dwindling and wearing out. Because the series cannot be re-released, they can’t buy new copies of the films. Tapes for sale on eBay can cost up to $1,500.

That’s a far cry from the clause of the Constitution that authorized Congress to establish copyright laws “only to the end of promoting science and the useful arts.”

Just how mistaken is the current legal climate? To quote a recent report from the Center for Social Media at American University, “Filmmakers must pay a license to use a pop song that may play in the background [of footage shot] in a pizza parlor, an image or sequence from a movie or archival footage owned by someone else. They may need to pay not only songwriters but performers, not only movie studios but actors. There is no central place to find out who owns what. There is no rule of thumb for pricing. No one has to agree to license. And it doesn’t matter if you didn’t intend to quote it. Did somebody sing ‘Happy Birthday’ in your documentary? Too bad - you owe Time Warner a small fortune.”

In recognition of Black History Month, activist group Downhill Battle encouraged anyone with access to “Eyes” to host community screenings on Tuesday night. Over 70 screenings were scheduled in schools, homes, libraries and churches worldwide. In San Francisco, the people about whom the documentaries were made planned a screening.

In a statement of support, the Bay Area Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement said, “We who once defied the laws and customs that denied people of color their human rights and dignity, we whose faces are seen in ‘Eyes on the Prize,’ we who helped produce it, tonight defy the media giants who have buried our story in their vaults by publicly sharing episodes of this forbidden knowledge with all who wish to see it.”

UF’s libraries own copies of the films. I will be glad to personally assist anyone who wants to organize screenings here.

During Black History Month, we celebrate victories over racism and segregation - vile forces which exclude citizens from participating in their own culture. With these screenings of “Eyes on the Prize,” people around the world are declaring war on another of those vile forces: flawed copyright law.