Griffin Schiller
From YouTube channel FilmSpeak
Griffin Schiller is an LA-based entertainment journalist and film critic from Frederick, Maryland with a passion for cinema. He graduated from Purdue University in 2017 with a degree in computer graphics technology, has worked on music videos and short films, and is now a member of the Hollywood Critics Association. At The Playlist, he is a contributor and hosts a podcast called The Fourth Wall, where he has interviewed well-known actors including Daniel Craig, Pierce Brosnan, Keanu Reeves, and Olivia Wilde.
Griffin also founded and runs a YouTube channel, FilmSpeak, and its associated publication (https://filmspeak.net/). On his YouTube channel, which as of May 31, 2022, had more than 61,000 subscribers, he primarily reviews and analyzes popular movies such as The Batman, Dune, and The Northman in longform “video essays” that draw on his skills as a film critic and his filmmaking knowledge. For example, in his video, “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is ALMOST Great,” Griffin details how Sam Raimi came to direct the Doctor Strange movie, and describes the actors’ performances and the different feelings that were evoked throughout the film. Griffin narrates the thoughts he had while watching the film and analyzes the structure of the film and the filmmaking techniques used. He notes plot twists or “aha moments” that the audience has while watching, and connects these to previous films Raimi has directed, while describing the way these moments were filmed to create the best cinematic experience. He also includes clips and images from the film to support his ideas.
Griffin’s videos are compelling, insightful, and impassioned:
Griffin, like many other YouTubers who create movie reviews, struggles with copyright claims and ensuring that his content falls under the doctrine of fair use. According to Copyright.gov, fair use is a legal doctrine that promotes freedom of expression by permitting the unlicensed use of copyright-protected works in certain circumstances. There are four factors that should be weighed when evaluating fair use: the purpose and character of the use, the nature of the copyrighted work, the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work, and the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work. While entertainment companies may argue that one or more of these four factors may indicate a use was not fair use, and thus support their filing a copyright claim, YouTubers feel that this power is being abused and is infringing on their rights to fair use and free speech.
Chris Stuckmann, a very popular YouTube movie reviewer, said that Universal Pictures issued a DMCA takedown notice for every video of his that included any footage from a Universal film, even though Stuckmann believed his videos fell under YouTube’s fair use policies. He believes that Universal is being “greedy” by hindering his ability to legally express his thoughts about films and filmmaking. He also tweeted that Universal has made the claim and appeal process so repetitive and laborious that “it's beginning to border on harassment” (Alexander, 2018). He is being put through the legal process of appealing claims over and over again for videos that he believes fall under fair use.
Another example involved Greg Alba, one half of The Reel Rejects YouTubers, who also posts content involving film reviews and reactions. On his channel, Alba posted a video of his friend singing a parody of the “Mission Impossible” theme song, where all the lyrics “were replaced with only Tom Cruise’s name.” This video then got a copyright claim from Sony ATV Publishing, claiming that Alba’s use of the song was copyright infringement. Now, because of Sony’s copyright claim, Alba would not be able to make any money off of this “parody version of a popular song” he created (Miller, 2021). However, Alba’s use very likely was fair use, as parody is commonly considered fair use.
It is difficult to know what is allowed or not allowed on YouTube regarding fair use where YouTubers are practicing their right to speak freely about their thoughts on movies, and while the owners of the movies believe their copyrighted works are being misused. Along with Stuckmann and Alba, Griffin expresses his frustrations with fair use determinations, as he believes he is following the rules of YouTube’s policies, but still gets copyright claims on his videos.