In our last interview in this series, we meet Francesca Coppa (pronounced cope-a). Francesca is many things — English professor, author, feminist. She's also a vidder of long-standing and provides a fascinating glimpse into how the underground culture of women in video grew from working with tapes to the current digital environment — with all of the dangers and opportunities that change entails.
Of course, fair use is central to what she does, and that narrative runs through our chat with her.
This is the last of four interviews, for now at least. We hope you have enjoyed them. We realize they are a little long for such things, but we think they are well worth your time in helping to realize that “creators” are not restricted to big companies, or to certain California locales. They are everywhere, and their work is just as important and timely, even if not seen by millions of people.
Copyright laws have to accommodate them, too. That's been our message here: just because you don't have permission to use some copyrighted material for this purpose, doesn't mean you can't do it. Without the fair use protections that we have, the work of these artists would not be possible. Other parts of copyright law, like the length of the copyright, could hamper artists and commentators in their work.
Let the discussions continue. Thanks to Nina, Elisa, Jonny and Francesca for sharing their stories.