Scott's Blog of Doom
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Question

By Scott Keith on 7 May 2021


My Apologies if this question has been asked before.

I’m watching the Brian Pillman “Dark Side of the Ring”, and I’m wondering why WWE allows their footage to be used on this series when most of the episodes do not exactly paint them in a positive light.

Thanks.
As I understand it, they’re not really “using” the footage. You’ll notice that it’s typically done like filming a TV screen that’s showing their footage, which would count as a transformative work and fall under “fair use”. The A&E documentaries are actual licensed footage by contrast. WWE licenses their stuff all the time and it’s a big reason why they buy up all the libraries.
As a counter, AEW are apparently being super big dicks about people on YouTube using their stuff in any manner, and sending out copyright claims denying fair use as a reason. Maffew in particular is getting worked over by them on the regular.