Why Netflix Changed Its Rules To Help Ava DuVernay’s 13th
Since making its debut at the New York Film Festival in September 2016, Ava DuVernay's hard-hitting documentary 13th has made headlines, and secured awards, for its unflinching look at the state of race relations on our country. By interviewing civil rights leaders, politicians and social justice warriors, the Selma director traces the roots of America's racial history -- and our nation's ongoing racial divide -- while shining a necessary spotlight on the leaders who continue to close gaps between different groups in the U.S. And now, to help continue educating young minds on the content of 13th, Netflix is granting the film permission to hold educational screenings so that groups can continue to spread the film's message. To explain why, Netflix VP of Original Documentary Programming Lisa Nishimura stated:
Here's where things, normally, would get dicey, from a legal perspective. Screening 13th from your Netflix account for a group in public likely would be committing copyright infringement against the distributors. People are not allowed to publicly perform copyrighted materials without permission of the owner. What Netflix is doing, essentially, if granting that permission, likely in accordance with an agreement made with Kandoo Films, the production company. But seeing as how Netflix is the distributor of 13th, an original composition commissioned by the streaming service, this is allowed... so long as the following stipulations are followed, per Netflix's Web site:
Ava DuVernay's 13th has acquired numerous awards since screening, including Best Documentary from the Critics' Choice Documentary Awards, Best Documentary at the Satellite Awards, and Best Documentary from the British Academy Film Awards. It has been nominated in the Documentary category for the Academy Awards, which will be handed out on Sunday, Feb. 26. To see the film's trailer, click to the next page. Hopefully it will inspire educators to share DuVernay's doc with students in a nearby school soon.
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Sean O’Connell is a journalist and CinemaBlend’s Managing Editor. Having been with the site since 2011, Sean interviewed myriad directors, actors and producers, and created ReelBlend, which he proudly cohosts with Jake Hamilton and Kevin McCarthy. And he's the author of RELEASE THE SNYDER CUT, the Spider-Man history book WITH GREAT POWER, and an upcoming book about Bruce Willis.