Fair Use lesson from Mr. Skin

Okay, this is copyright related, but here at Search-My-Trademark.com, we're interested in more than just trademarks. Film Threat has an interesting article on Mr. Skin, of Internet and Howard Stern fame (and fortune).  It talks about how Mr. Skin got started.  But most important, at least from a legal perspective, the article asks Mr. Skin how it got the rights to show all of the film clips of naked celebrities.  And this is what he said:

MrSkin.com is a compilation of reviews, references and other critical commentary on actresses and the films in which they have appeared, just like any televised review program. The website is also a resource for viewers who want to purchase movies in which the more than 11,000 actresses they feature have appeared.

Accordingly, they fall squarely under fair use provisions of the law (and equivalent foreign exemptions for review and criticism) and have successfully operated under this premise since launch in 1999.

Also, about 75-percent of movie companies and movie distributors send us screeners of their films for us to review at MrSkin.com. They realize a site that gets over six million visitors a month, and has a spokesman who is heard weekly on Howard Stern and many other shows has a pretty good platform to promote their movies.

Ah, don't you just love capitalism. 

Related:

JibJab Media, Inc. v. Ludlow Music, Inc.

Rocketboom interviews Mark Hosler of negativland

Article on Trademark Fair Use.

Tags: copyright, trademark, fair use, Mr. Skin, Howard Stern, celebrity