This site is for informational use only and is not intended as legal, financial, or business advice. If you need legal advice on any particular matter, please consult with an attorney. Please also see the full Terms of Service before engaging in use of the site.
I’m putting this information out, according to my own understanding, as a resource to start you on your way to finding out how to use external works in your film(s) and how to protect your film(s) and your rights. Most of this material refers to United States law, and would not cover international law or the law of any other country. (Please tread especially lightly with regards to international distribution.)
This site is intended to give very general information on intellectual property law. I can’t be held liable for any given action that you take in a particular situation. This is intended as a resource site: as a place to help you get a basic understanding of the related issues, with links to external sources. The authors of those external sources of information have much more expertise than I do. This site is not intended to be a be-all and end-all declaration on matters of intellectual property for independent filmmakers.
Please do your own research or consult with a lawyer (or both) before you use any given work. You should double-check the license agreement for any site, or in cases of films or books, double-check the actual copyright holder. Even sites like Pixabay, which has loads of free images available, has terms of service. Also, please do your own research or consult with a lawyer (or both) before you make legal or business decisions, especially those that regard your chain of title or incorporation.
I have tried to de-commercialize this site to the greatest extent possible. I’ve tried to use the publisher’s pages for any book references and not major book retailers. I’ve tried to reference government agencies and professional organizations for outside sources of help. Obviously some of the people that I’ve cited do this for a profit. But if I named people on this site, I’ve tried to vet them to the best of my ability. If you choose to do business with any particular service, person, or organization, you are on your own with regards to your choice of their services and your dealings with them.
I am not a lawyer, nor do I aspire to be. And, even if you see information from lawyers online, I’m sure they have similar language in their Terms of Service that says that legal information is not legal advice. In general, you may only assume that you are getting actual legal, financial, or business advice if you enter into an attorney-client relationship or contractual relationship with another financial or business professional.
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