* why-old-music.mov

  When I told people I wanted to incorporate old music... everybody
  said "No, no, don't do that, don't do that.  Don't touch any music,
  just don't touch it!" ... Just leave it alone, don't do it.
  I actually wept at one point, because all these people were saying
  don't do it.  And I had to do it.  I had to make this piece of
  art... it had to be them.

* art-vs-censorship.mov

  I just thought, you know, if I don't make this piece of art because
  I'm scared, then the terrorists have won, right?  It's bad enough
  that they've affected policy like this, but if I internalize it, if
  I kill my own art out of fear of them, then I've really lost.

* threats-to-expression.mov

  ...pretty much everyone I know has sort of stunted their creative
  impulses over this.  But there's a lot of other things they're
  afraid of, you know, they're afraid of criticism... there are all
  these threats to expression.  I was also warned off by [Hindu]
  fundamentalists: don't touch the Ramayana, that belongs to us.  So
  actually I see a real... how to say it?... If you want to express
  yourself, you have to be brave, and this is just one obstacle among
  many of expressing yourself freely.  I mean I think the first thing
  people internalize is just criticism.  This makes it much, much
  worse.  This is like, it's bad enough someone might think your art's
  not good, but hey, you could go to jail for it!"

* hemorrhaging-money.mov

   ...You can lose all your money... even without being sued.  That's
   what amazes me, is how much money I've lost without being sued at
   all!  No one's had to sue me for me to be just hemorrhaging money
   because of copyright.  [interviewer: "It's a pre-emptive strike on
   artists"] Yeah.

* lessons-wrong-and-right.mov

   What really bothers me is now the film is done and it's getting
   awards, it's getting all this praise, but people are saying "Oh,
   you're having rights problems, oh you really should have cleared
   those before."  And they're using me as like this lesson, it's like
   "Let that be a lesson to all of you, don't touch anything that you
   haven't cleared first!" And I'm like, how is any independent artist
   going to clear this stuff first?

   ...We have the technology now so that ordinary people... people
   without a lot of money or resources can make a film alone.  That's
   why I made it.  It's like, I know you're supposed to do this, this
   and this, ... you're supposed to do all this financing first.
   That's like the first thing: before you take pen to paper, you're
   supposed to have financing.  And I thought, I don't actually
   technically need to do this.  I have a computer and I have the
   skills and I have the drive, and that's enough to make this piece.
   And I knew there could be problems on the other end, but I also felt it
   was just more important to make the film.  So I'm appalled that
   people think.. that what they take away from this film is "Don't do
   that".  Because the point, what I *hope* they take away from it is,
   yes you *can* do this.  You know, if you're not scared, you can do
   this stuff, and I am not wrong for making this film.  There's
   something very wrong with the laws right now, but I'm really really
   glad I made this film."

* the-most-important-thing-is-to-make-the-film.mov

  All the criticism, all the threats, all the dangers, I was able to
  set aside.  I was aware of them, but I just thought... the vision of
  the film was so strong, I just sort of surrendered to my faith in
  that film.  It's like, I know all these things might be happening,
  but the most important thing is to make the film.

* legal-research-on-recordings.mov

  Nina talks about how the EFF and the American University
  Glushko-Samuelson Intellectual Property Law Clinic helped her
  research the -rights- restrictions status of the music: three years
  of labor by a group of dedicated law students, just so one
  independent filmmaker could untangle what is and isn't in the public
  domain, for one film.

* the-indie-film-biz.mov

  The advice that I got... was "Look just make the film, and then if a
  distributor wants to release it, the distributor can pay to clear
  the rights."

* distributors-that-kill.mov

   I actually know of several films that were picked up [by
   distributors]... and all they did was sit on it for two years.
   [...] They just killed it for two years.

* distributors-cannot-afford-220k.mov

  There was no way I was going to find a distributor that was going to
  put money into this, no way.  I mean, the most distributors were
  offering for my film was like $10,000 for unlimited use... [$220,000
  was the cost needed to clear just the music rights]

* costs-of-so-called-negotiating.mov

   When it became clear that no distributor was going to take this on,
   so we had to investigate how much it was going to cost to clear the
   rights.  So I, back when I had money, because I don't have money
   anymore, out of my own pocket had to pay for a law firm to talk to
   these publishers.  Because if you're just some schmuck like me,
   it's not worth their trouble to even talk to you.

* festival-licenses-220k.mov

   First they want you to pay $500 for a festival license. ...
   A festival license says "you pay us $500 for non-commercial use
   only, non-commercial."  And I was like, but, if it's
   non-commercial, then I'm not going to get any money at all.  Where
   am I getting the money to pay you to not make any money?...

* copyright-extensions-retroactive-incentives.mov

   They were supposed to be in the public domain in the 1980's, but
   [then Congress extended copyright].  It's because we need this
   incentive to get more people to write songs in 1927!  [laughs]"

* how-to-distribute.mov

   XXX beware of this, talks about plans to just put it online XXX

* not-ask-fans-to-pay-extortionists.mov

   I'd really spent everything I had on *making* the film, that's what
   I believed in, and I actually raised money *to make the film*.
   ... I got donations... There are some people that I would tell how
   these corporations wanted $220,000, and they said "Well, ask the
   Internet!  Write on your blog again!  Say that you need money."
   And I've always said, there's no way I'm gonna ask my fans to
   support this.  ... I asked for money so that I could actually
   complete the art.  I was using it for good, and it was given by
   people, with love, for the art.  This is ridiculous... So for that
   reason I've just refused to ask my fans and viewers to participate
   in this."

* why-i-could-not-put-sita-online.mov

   XXX also danger XXX

   These laws have forced me to *manage* a film that I shouldn't have
   to manage.

* costs-of-control-the-dvd-disaster.mov

   XXX again, hint of danger -- talks about burning DVDs herself XXX

* i-could-make-money-if-it-were-free.mov

   XXX If I could give it away for free, I could actually make some
   money.  Talks about "reasonable law" first fourteen years,
   Lessig's "hybrid economy", etc XXX

* a-clear-landing-space-for-the-film.mov

  XXX Detailed talk about licensing schemes, artist control over the
  experience, etc.  This clip is actually quite interesting... What I
  think we should do is put all the "speculative world" clips in a
  group at the end, so that we lead with the outrage-inducing
  material, and then people get to the more philosophical stuff later
  on XXX

* control-vs-freedom.mov

  "I think it's okay for artists to be uncomfortable with this loss of
  control.  I think it's a lot to expect an artist to be like "Oh,
  yeah, it's fine, do whatever you want with it."  But what I think a
  lot of artists forget is that we're losing something by having this
  much control."

* control-vs-freedom-2-commercial-or-noncommercial.mov

  The scenario people always bring up... is like "Well, what if a
  corporation exploited [laughs] your work without your permission.
  It's like, well, you know, let's just balance that with corporations
  keeping me from making work in the first place!

* a-post-copyright-world.mov

  ...Again, one of the things that's hard to imagine is in a post
  copyright world there could just be so much work available, that,
  you know, my work wouldn't really be at any particular risk, there
  would just *so* much of it...

* humility-remix.mov

   I do have to remember as an artist to be humble, and that you know,
   in my case especially I am taking ideas that are already there,
   that have been around for thousands of years [the Ramayana], eighty
   years [songs recorded by Annette Hanshaw], and only a few years,
   but these are ideas that are just out in the world, and I
   synthesize them.  But this whole, like, "This is my original idea,
   I own this," is a bit much.  So I certainly acknowledge that my
   project is a remix project.. and yes, having done that, of course
   people will remix my thing."

* fears-copyright-does-not-protect-much-now.mov

  XXX interesting discussion of a copyright-free zone, but maybe
      should be in that philosophical group toward the end. XXX
      
* credit-remix-conversation.mov

   "...I want credit for my creativity... and again, it's *credit*,
   it's like the difference between credit and money.  I'm much more
   interested in the credit, and just the work itself.  I just want
   the work itself to be seen.  I want my voice to be heard.  And if
   my voice is heard, it will be remixed.  I just want it to be heard
   first.  I don't want to be speaking directly into a microphone
   that's going to garble it up.  ... Because the remix is a kind of
   feedback from the audience really, and that's nice, you know, it's
   a conversation.  Art is a conversation between me and an audience..."

* originality-vs-honesty.mov

   ...When you try to be original, you're usually pretty lame.  I don't
   know if you've read "Impro" by Keith Johnstone?  It's a fantastic
   book, and -- he wrote it like twenty years or maybe even longer ago
   -- he says one of the worst problems improvisers face, one of the
   things that make them fail, that makes their work suck, is that
   they try to be original, rather than be honest.  And I think
   honesty is where the ... soul of art comes from.

* film-finance-alienation-at-film-festivals.mov

   ...The way you're supposed to make a film is, like I say, first
   you're supposed to go to investors.  You're supposed to get the
   money first.  ... Even the independent film world, I'm really
   disappointed to say, is about commercial product-making, it's
   really not about art.  And it's been very alienating for me to go
   to a lot of these film festivals and, you know, meet my fellow
   film-makers, and they've really internalized the permission
   culture...

* synch-vs-insycherate.mov

   ... All my problems come from "synch rights" -- "synch rights", not
   mechanical rights, *synchronization* rights, which only applies to
   film.  I can't release my film on DVD for less than $220,000 --
   although we're still working on it, you know, I haven't completely
   given up on the rights negotiation route, although calling it
   "negotiation" is like, you know, a serf "negotiating" with a king:
   one party has absolutely no power at all, the other one has all the
   power.  But we're still trying that route, trying to get them to
   come down.  And we may succeed, who knows.

   ...So I can't release a DVD of the film without paying some absurd
   amount of money paying off these corporations.  But I could release
   a *soundtrack* of the film and pay mechanical rights on it,
   mechanical rights being regulated.  So I could release a soundtrack
   of the film for 9 cents a song, payed to the Harry Fox agency.  So
   for about a dollar a disk, it's fine, for the sound. ...

   XXX some talk about giving the film away for free here, but also
       interesting talk about insyncherating.  Actually, this clip is
       really good, I think the danger is not great, let's keep it.
       Your statement at the end of it is pretty strong. XXX

* copyright-does-not-help-artists-ninas-adventures.mov

   ...As an artist?  Never.  I have never, ever benefitted from
   copyright as an artist.  All my years of doing my comic strip,
   "Nina's Adventures", what was I gonna do with copyright?  Sue?
   Like, people took that comic strip, and I would get reports all the
   time of, you know, "such-and-such a free weekly paper is running
   your strip, did you know?"  And I didn't know, and they weren't
   paying for it, and they hadn't asked permission.  [but they
   credited me, my name would be in the strip].  But I thought about
   it, and it's like, a) I don't have the resources to sue them, b)
   they're *putting my work out there*, you know?  This comic strip is
   a soapbox for me, and they're spreading my ideas!  And the people
   that pay, paid like ten dollars a week!  You know, the people that
   actually pay legitimately pay almost nothing. ..."

* teaching-fear-of-music.mov

   ...Most of the artists I know are animators who work in studios.
   And some of these animators have also made their own films, being
   terrified to use any music they couldn't clear.  And this just
   breaks my heart, you know, in education, all these schools are like
   "Don't use this, and don't use that, don't do this, don't do that!"
   They're teaching ... young artists to be scared of music [laughs]. ...

* my-next-project-fundamentalists-who-owns-culture.mov

   Ah, my next project.  I would like it to have something to do with
   freedom of expression, and beyond that I can't really say what it's
   going to be.  ...

   ...In addition to these copyright issues, there are also these
   fundamentalist Hindu nationalists who want to stop the film and
   want to hang me, so they say, for having used the Ramayana.  And
   what's interesting to me is how similar these things are, because
   there's this idea that you own culture. ...

* for-limited-times-i-am-no-longer-sure-though.mov

   XXX let's not use this :-) XXX

* copyright-fundamentalism.mov

   ... So, what do religious [Hindu] fundamentalists and big media
   corporations have in common?  They believe that they own culture.
   They are so self-righteous about it, they are so, you know, this is
   *ours*, and doing anything with what belongs to us is
   denigrating...

   ...I would really like to do something that shows that these are
   the same thing.  It's a kind of fundamentalism that's, in my
   opinion, dangerous.

* festival-licenses-middlemen.mov

   Nina lists the series of payments and law firms and negotiations
   she went through

   [my lawyers] went back to all these corporations, and all the
   corporations said "But we already talked about this film with
   Greenberg Traurig, and where's our festival licenses?  You were
   supposed to give us $500 and sign a festival license, and we're not
   gonna talk to you at all, or negotiate anything, until you do these
   first.  And I was out of money, and I had to decide whether I was
   gonna pay for medical care or pay these things.  And I was just
   sitting here... and I realized I couldn't do it.  

   ... All we get is the right to negotiate.  It's like I'm paying
   them money to negotiate with them, after already being out more
   than $8000 hiring middlemen to try to negotiate with them.  And I
   should add that we tried going to them directly, and we just got
   the runaround.

* my-mom-is-my-secret-weapon.mov

   XXX We should definitely send this to your mom :-).  Should we
   include it in the interview?  Maybe yes, to emphasize how much more
   this process would have cost you if you'd had to pay for the labor
   she gave for free. XXX

* distributor-would-not-pay-festival-licenses.mov

   So I went to the distributor that said that she would help with the
   money, and she said, well, I can't really pay you for the festival
   licences.  And so then I had to go back to DiamondTime and say
   "Guess what?  I really am out of money.  I have to decide whether
   I'm gonna pay for medical care this month, or pay these festival
   licenses, and I really have to pay for medical care. ... 

* a-commercial-future-for-sita.mov

   ... There is some hope that there will be some sort of commercial
   future for the film, maybe.  I *wish* that there were a different
   kind of commercial future for the film.  I wish that there a *fair*
   commercial future for the film, rather than a
   pay-off-the-extortionists commercial future.  One of the other
   problems with paying off the extortionists is that I have to get
   the money from somewhere, and where I'm getting that money from is
   the distributor, and then I have to do much more what the
   distributor wants me to do. ...

* no-money-expected-from-commercial-release.mov

   ...I should add that a lot of filmmakers that I've talked to that
   have had their films distributed commercially have not made any
   money from that...

   ...The people that make money on the commercial releases are the
   distributors, or in the case of indy films, sometimes even the
   distributors don't make money, they do it for "prestige".

* french-cinema-regulations.mov

   XXX This talks clearly about releasing the film online, we
       shouldn't release this clip without editing it further. XXX

* quality-control-35mm-vs-downloaded.mov

   XXX not sure this is in the topic enough to be worth putting up, at
       least right now.  Also, it talks about downloading the film from
       online, and I'm paranoid about hinting too much about that :-) XXX

* the-role-of-cinemas.mov

   I do think that the role of cinemas is going to change, is
   changing.  ... I don't live in France [which has laws about how a
   film can't be available on DVD while it's still in theaters] and I
   don't know what's making it work in France, but I do have to say I
   love French audiences.  They're incredibly generous, they have
   responded overwhelmingly positively to my film, so I'm grateful for
   that.  But for me as a filmgoer, I don't think I ever see a movie
   in the cinema because I can't get it anywhere else.  I go to
   cinemas because I want to see it in the cinema.

* why-i-want-a-french-distributor.mov

   XXX should we include this?  My instinct is not -- not that there's
       anything awful in it, it's just a different topic. XXX

* academy-awards.mov

   ...I cannot submit the film for an Academy Award.  Because to
   qualify for an Academy Award, you need a week-long *commercial*
   run, and I cannot show the film commercially. ...

   ... The Academy Awards, you know, it is for commercial films,
   that's why you need a commercial run to be nominated.  A lot of
   people don't realize that, and they just think it's for, you know,
   ... the best film, they believe it's the best film. ... Correct: a
   film like mine is not eligible for an Academy Award.

   XXX In this clip I talk about hypothetically releasing the film
       online, but I think it's safe. XXX

* suffering-becomes-my-next-project.mov

   ...I've decided my next project is going to be about this
      [copyright issue] ...

      I'm thrilled that so many people are, you know, resisting this,
      or they've identified that this is a problem, a lot of poeple
      are putting a lot of time and energy and money and work into
      trying to make this better.  So I'm definitely not alone, and
      right now I'm all about connecting with the people who "get it",
      because so many people don't understand what's happening, so
      many people don't understand that it's a free speech issue. ..."