Background: Use me, fairly

In 1991 Sut Jhally, lauded media studies scholar at University of Massachusetts Amherst, produced a documentary entitled Dreamworlds. The film criticized the image of women presented in music videos (specifically those shown on MTV,) with a conclusion that many music videos present women as objects of male domination and concurrently promote sexual violence (Jhally on MTV, 2008). Jhally supported his argument by placing images of popular music videos alongside film rape scenes in order to highlight the similarity of woman’s portrayal in the two.

MTV obviously saw this as bad press: while sex sells, being accused of objectifying women so horrifically does not. The cable television network attempted to halt usage of the film by issuing a cease and desist letter to Jhally and UMass Amherst on the grounds that “Dreamworlds” used clips of copyrighted, or MTV owned, music videos. Jhally replied to MTV, stating that he was not in copyright violation, that under the copyright law of 1996 he was able to use copyrighted material for the sake of teaching and academic criticism (Jhally on MTV, 2008). Furthermore, Jhally threatened to take the case to the press, which would reveal MTV as a corporate bully bent on saving face and money rather then promoting education. Jhally, as they say, “called MTV’s bluff.”

The network retreated from its lawsuit and, fortuitously, though the process the Media Education Foundation (MEF) was born. The goal of the MEF is to - produce and distribute documentary films and other educational resources to inspire critical reflection on the social, political, and cultural impact of American mass media (MEF mission statement). Jhally triumphed over the media giant, and came out with a nonprofit organization promoting Fair Use and critical reflection to boot.