Resources Copyright cases One-Page Guide to Copyright Law – CopyrightData.com An extensive discussion of why a work might still be in copyright or not with cases and exceptions. Citations and Case Summaries – CopyrightData.com This page hasn’t been updated for a while, but contains a really extensive list of copyright cases. Public domain […]
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Resources Contracts and Clearance Clearance & Copyright: Everything you need to know for Film, Television, and other Creative Content – Michael C. Donaldson , Lisa A. Callif, and Christopher L. Perez Getting Permission – License & Clear Copyrighted Materials – Richard Stim Contracts for the Film & TV Industry – Mark Litwak Downloadable templates in
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Protecting Yourself You will want to create a legal entities to regulate your film productions in the form of one or more production companies. This helps to protect the rights and livelihood of each partner in the film’s control structure. Commonly filmmakers would like to have an ongoing company that encompasses multiple projects, while having
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Protecting Yourself When it comes time for post-production, you will need to be able to send a huge list of deliverables to your distributor. The deliverables associated with intellectual property rights will be just one part of that list. (A couple of good articles by filmmakers documenting their trials with deliverables and tips for getting
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Protecting Yourself Since 1978, copyright is automatically granted to any original creative work that is fixed in a tangible form of expression. So, if you create a screenplay or a film in any format (assuming that you created most if not all of the artistic elements), you have copyright. So why go to the trouble
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Protecting Yourself Making an independent film is exciting. You’re creating something wonderful to share with the world, and working with other brilliant people to make your dream a reality. But it’s also full of potential legal headaches. (And possibly also personal relationship headaches.) Here are some tips for security and problem prevention for your film.
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Budget but Beware Creative Commons is a non-profit organization that was started in order to increase the number of creative works that are available for others to reuse and share. It is a subset of copyright that replaces the usual “all rights reserved” mindset of standard copyright with “some rights reserved”. The Creative Commons licenses
Budget but Beware Fair use is a set of limitations on the ability of copyright holders to claim infringement that are baked into the Copyright Act. The ability to claim fair use of a copyrighted work is primarily applicable to fact-based works, non-commercial or educational use, or commentary or criticism. Additionally, the work where fair
Film IP Issues Technically, right of publicity laws apply to everyone, with regards what happens with their likeness. Most of the major cases apply to celebrities, but sometimes a regular person believes that their rights have been transgressed or that they have been insulted or defamed. A frequently cited example is when teenager Alison Chang
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Film IP Issues Many people think that you can’t use any trademarked products in your film, because you might get sued by the company. This is why you sometimes see made-up or generic products or product names in film. However, nominative use – showing or referencing the product in name only – should be valid
