As a follow-up to their exploratory report of the effects of copyright restrictions on documentary filmmakers, Pat Aufderheide and Peter Jaszi have collaborated with a group of filmmakers, lawyers and other experts to create a statement of best practices for claims of fair use in documentary filmmaking. This statement will help guide filmmakers in their claims of fair use, and help inform them what material is within their bounds. This statement of best practices will help standardize the process of seeking and obtaining rights in the documentary film world, and assist in helping filmmakers make legally informed decisions. According to the statement, documentary filmmakers should be afforded the same rights as cultural and historical critics in print media.

Documentary filmmaker Brigid Maher created this short film Stories Untold to accompany the arguments made in Peter Jaszi and Pat Aufderheide's report Untold Stories: Creative Consequences of the Rights Clearance Culture for Documentary Filmmakers. This link is a transcript of that film. A link to the streaming, broadband version of the film is available here in streaming .mov format. Speaking with documentary filmmakers, Maher gives the viewer a first-person look at the hardships of fair use clearance. In this film, it is readily apparent that even the simplest video clip or shortest song may cause a myriad of problems for filmmakers.

Spurred on by the publication of the Aufderheide and Jaszi report, Matt Dunne explores the strugglers of documentary filmmakers trying to fund their projects in this article. Dunne expresses the growing frustration in the documentary community at having to face large fees and mountains of paperwork before releasing a film. Dunne also notes that the commercial success of some recent documentaries such as Fahrenheit 9/11, may make the position of documentaries in the legal realm even more precarious. As the difficulties rise for filmmakers, Dunne draws a parallel to recent music lawsuits and the increasing difficulty of fair use claims for academic books.