# Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism - Author: Joichi Ito - Date: 2004-07-12T07:04:11Z Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism. An amazing documentary about Fox News and the danger of corporations controlling news. There is a QT and a Windows Media trailer online. There is a New York Times article about producer Robert Greenwald's unique method of distributing the documentary, selling the DVD for distribution through political action groups. LessigAs the Times article describes, Greenwald’s style for distributing documentaries may be the beginning of something new — political criticism, using interviews and clips, making a strong political point, distributed through DVDs and political action groups. (See some other examples here). On what theory does he, and others, have the right to use such material without permission? On the free culture theory we call the First Amendment: Copyright law must, the Court told us in Eldred, embed “fair use”; “fair use” is informed by First Amendment values; the values of the First Amendment most relevant here are those expressed in New York Times v. Sullivan. As with news-gathering, critical political filmmaking needs a buffer zone of protection against the overreaching of the law. And if the potential of this medium — now liberated by digital technology — is to be realized, we need clear precedents that establish that critics have the freedom to criticize without having to hire a lawyer first. --- #### Categories Movies