Star Wars Mashups

Two Star Wars posts in a row? Sure! Lucasfilm just introduced Star Wars mashups - basically they're licensing clips from the movie to fans who want to mess around with them (with major restrictions). In an era where fair use is under attack, this is a healthy breath of fresh air. Lucasfilm has been quite progressive about this for a while, when they introduced a fan film hosting service (although infamously zealous about their copyrights).

Here are some more stories on the topic:

WSJ

Ars Technica

For a much more negative view on the Lucasfilm decision, read the Madisonian (don't know much about the site, but it looks interesting). They argue that by authorizing, but also limiting, what can be used in the parody clips, Lucasfilm is actually undermining fair use, since legally one can use any clip for parody purposes. There's definitely some truth to this, but with the many copyright holders behaving as if fair use doesn't even exist, Lucasfilm's is a welcome move.

--YY