Filmmakers vs. permission society

I had missed this the other day: As Larry Lessig notes, Stay Free! has a fantastically interesting story about the struggles of a filmmaker with the permission society. The documentary Mad Hot Ballroom, directed by Park Sloper Marilyn Agrelo, follows New York public school kids in a citywide a ballroom dancing competition.

When Agrelo and Sewell were filming boys playing foosball after school, Ronnie [a young boy, above] at one point shouted, "Everybody dance now!", a line from a C+C Music Factory hit. Incredibly, the filmmakers' lawyer said the line had to be cleared with the song's publisher, Warner Chappell. The price? $5,000.