Legalities of Hip-Hop Front and Center in D.C.

Fair Use panel at the Worlds Beats Life, Inc. Remixing Art of Social Change teach-in

Michon Boston is Community Cinema’s regional outreach coordinator in Washington, D.C. She helped organize a recent panel about legal issues raised in the documentary Copyright Criminals and filed this report.

Earlier this year, Community Cinema D.C. partnered with Words Beats & Life Inc. for its presentation of Copyright Criminals. WBL Inc. returned to the documentary last week for a discussion on fair use as part of their teach-in initiative, “Remixing the Art of Social Change:  A Hip-Hop Approach.”

The six-day event brought Hip Hop legends to D.C. including DJ Kool Herc, Kurtis Blow, and Common.  The final day at the Washington Convention Center was ground zero for a series of special focus panels and workshops.
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Tags: copyright criminals, dc, hip hop, music, washington

Community Cinema Rocks the Bay Area

Sara Brissenden-Smith, regional outreach coordinator for the Bay Area, gives us highlights from a season of Community Cinema screenings.

I just completed my first full season of Community Cinema — that’s 18 screenings, with more than 30 community partners, 40 panelists, and more than 1,000 audience members.

A DJ spins at the Copyright Criminals screening in Oakland

Copyright Criminals brought out some of our most energetic and diverse viewers. People flooded into the theater and almost immediately lost themselves in the music.  Maybe it’s because I’m a hip hop fan, but having youth DJs mixing Lauryn Hill and Tribe Called Quest started my night off right. Law students, hip hop enthusiasts, teenagers, established authors, and DJs all contributed to conversations about artistic expression, creative ownership, and the overall impact on hip hop.

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Tags: between the folds, community cinema, copyright criminals, documentary, garbage dreams, Oakland, PBS, Young@Heart