question about digital use

[stephanie deboer]

Greetings everyone:

I seem to recall that my following question was a topic for the list not too long 
ago, but I'm afraid I can't find the emails that discussed this.  Feel free to 
respond to me on or off list, and I'd be happy to compile any responses I get and 
post them back to everyone.

Could anyone point me toward sources (English/Japanese, online/offline) that 
would help me to navigate the use of Japanese moving images (by which I 
mean frames, stills or short film clips) on a project or site linked to the internet?  
I'm involved in creating a multimedia project - part archive, part academic/
artistic argument - that will eventually be linked to the web, into which I'm 
hoping to incorporate Japanese images (especially film images).  I?m a novice 
in terms of their use in the public/digital sphere (not as promotion, but as 
academic, artistic or even archival "quote" in a digital context).  And would 
appreciate any advice or thoughts as to what?s important either practically 
(procedures/advice regarding how to go about procuring rights) or conceptually 
(what's at stake here for the artist, academic, or archivist).  

My recollection is that this terrain is pretty murky, but any thoughts or advice the 
list might have would be most appreciated!   Or did anyone keep records of the 
discussion thread the list had about this not too long ago?

[And just to give you a sense of where I am in the process, I'm at the beginning 
stages of trying to secure usage rights for a couple of films produced by Toho in 
the early '60s.  If anyone has any advice specific to this, I'm 'all ears' as well.]

Many thanks.

Stephanie DeBoer