Remember the post I did last month about the Bush campaign using a clip from the Oscars without permission? Roger Ebert’s most recent “Movie Answer Man” column has the final word on that mini-scandal :

Q. Regarding the Bush campaign’s new TV ad, “Kerry’s Coalition of the Wild-eyed”: I linked to a script of the spot, and noticed that they are using what’s described as a “video clip” from the 2003 Oscars, when Michael Moore berated George W. Bush.

I’ve always understood that Academy is extremely vigilant about protecting its copyright, and permits clips from the Oscars to be rebroadcast only in very special cases (for example, when a presenter or recipient dies). If the Oscar clip really is in the Bush ad, does this mean AMPAS has relaxed its licensing/usage policy? If not, will its leaders demand that Bush & Co. cease and desist?

A. Bruce Davis, executive director of the Oscars, replies: “Your correspondent is correct that the Academy prefers that the copyrighted footage from its shows be reused — following the brief grace period immediately after each broadcast — only in the context of obituaries or definitive biographies. We are not enthusiastic about clips from our broadcast being used in political ads, whether they’re blue, red, green or any other hue, but we’ve been advised by our attorneys that the clip in the Bush ad is short enough, and oddly enough political enough, to be protected under the fair use doctrine.

“Fair use trumps copyright infringement. So while we’re not happy about what we regard as a misappropriation of our material, there doesn’t seem to be much that we can do about it beyond grousing in the columns of movie critics, when we get the chance.”

I’m still surprised the mainstrem news never picked up on this. It seems like one of those “tempest in a teapot” style scandals that they love hyping to death.