A while back I was working on an article about documentary shorts, and wanted to include Current TV, as that is an outlet for shorts that is currently paying filmmakers for their work. I could not reach anyone at Current for comment, and that didn’t surprise me. Staff seems to turn over a lot and their aggressive rights policy is a bit of a bone of contention with filmmakers (though many appreciate that they can earn money by producing for Current). A small protest by filmmaker Isaac Brown has been brought to my attention and I want to bring it to yours.

The decision makers at Current have decided not to allow the Media That Matters Film Festival to include “The Art of Consumption” on their festival’s DVD. Despite the fact that Current has no intention of ever distributing DVDs, they maintain exclusive ownership of ALL the rights to the piece. Read the entire letter>>

Since I’m not the one losing money on deals with Current TV, nor is their take-all-rights policy uncommon, I’m leaning toward leaving this discussion to the filmmakers, but that doesn’t seem to be happening–at least not publically. Anyways, take a look at Brown’s open letter. I’d love to hear thoughts.