2. MOVIE MAKING
Movie making is a combination of:
• Creativity and art
• Personal and business rights
Many laws, rules and regulations apply
3. MOVIE MAKING AND THE
LAW
Important legal areas for Movie Makers
• Copyrights & Trademarks
• Permissions & Clearances
• Business Entity protections
4. COPYRIGHTS
Copyright protection is under Federal, not State, law
Copyright Office website at www.copyright.gov
Copyrights protect artistic expressions but not ideas
Warning: things found in movies such as props, video clips,
music, sounds, pictures, magazine covers and many other items
may be subject to third party copyrights and/or trademarks
5. WHO OWNS A COPYRIGHT?
THE CREATOR(S): Absent an agreement to the contrary, the
creator(s) are the owners of the copyright in the work.
OR
THE EMPLOYER: Works made for hire (17 USC 101)
(a) a work prepared by an employee within the scope of his or
her employment; or
(b) a work specially ordered or commissioned for use … (2) as a
part of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, if the parties
expressly agree in writing that it is a work made for hire.
6. DERIVATIVE WORKS
Right to exclude all others from creating works based on
copyrighted original work
Protects authors from having movies made without permission of
author
Protects against unauthorized sequels
7. PERFORMANCE RIGHTS
Right to exclude all others from publicly performing a work
without permission
• Applies to literary, musical, dramatic, pantomime, choreographic,
movies, & other audiovisual works.
• Except for purely pictorial works and sound recordings, includes all
copyrightable works
Exclusion of sound recordings is important
• Performers have no rights to royalties, but composers of original
work may have rights
8. EXCEPTIONS TO
COPYRIGHT
Fair Use – the largest area of exceptions
Right of use for promotion
• A store can play selections to promote sales
Right to make copy to maintain or repair it, or to serve as an
archival backup
9. INFRINGEMENT OF
COPYRIGHT
Substantial similarity test
If copying not admitted, it can be inferred by access to the
copyrighted work
Liability has been found with
• Innocent infringement (not knowing the work was copyrighted)
• Unconscious infringement (not being consciously aware of the prior
work)
10. TYPES OF INFRINGEMENT
Direct Infringement – violation of at least one of rights protected
by copyright
Contributory Infringement – inducing, causing, or materially
contributing to the infringing conduct of another person
Vicarious Infringement – right to control infringer acts and
receives benefit from acts
12. TRADEMARKS
Trademarks are identifiers of the source of a product or service.
For example, Coca Cola ® for carbonated drinks or Kleenex® for
facial tissues.
Use or placement of third party trademarks (e.g. in a film) can be
an infringement of their trademark rights
Movie titles are not usually subject to trademark protection unless
part of a series or having acquired distinctiveness in the marketplace
13. PERMISSIONS AND
CLEARANCES
Logos, brand names and trademarks
Copyrighted materials
Films, tapes, artwork and still photos
Music
Likenesses
Character names, addresses, phone numbers, license plates
Locations
14. LOGOS, BRAND NAMES,
TRADEMARKS
Distinctive personal property identifiable with a person or entity
may require consent to be used in a film (products, pictures,
magazines, etc.)
Using in a defamatory fashion may result in a slander/libel action
If non-distinctive background use in a public area may not need
permission
Consider a prop house or other source of cleared materials
15. COPYRIGHTED MATERIALS
Try to avoid using copyrighted works of others.
Use fictitious names, companies, products in your works of fiction
Get written consent (license or release) from authors, creators and
writers of all materials used in the film
Includes copyrighted works (e.g. quotations, pictures, etc.) within
copyrighted works
16. FILM CLIPS, ARTWORK,
PHOTOS
Need permission of company that owns or licenses the work. Note:
ownership can change over time.
Multiple levels of releases may be required (e.g. WGA, SGA, Director’s
Guild, American Federation of Musicians, etc.)
Clearances of clips including music even more complex.
Photos may need a clearance from the copyright owner and persons
appearing in the photo.
Consider stock footage (many providers)
17. MUSIC
Original music, scored for the film, is the safest.
Prerecorded/published music need
• Publisher clearances
• Synchronization rights
• Performance rights
• Record company clearances
• To get a Master Use license
• Permission from the performers or third parties
18. LIKENESSES
Personality rights
• Right of publicity
• Right of privacy
General rule: you need written permission to use a person’s likeness in
your film
Public crowd scenes an exception
• Don’t focus on specific people
• Don’t leave the camera on someone for more than a second or
two
• Hold up a sign disclosing that a film is being made
19. CHARACTER NAMES,
ADDRESSES, …
Where the work is fictional, the names of the characters should be
fictional.
Don’t use real phone numbers or addresses in fictional works.
Prop houses have phony license plates, etc. for rent.
20. LOCATIONS
General rule: you can film anything viewable by the general public
as long as you do not disparage or defame.
Written location releases needed for private areas (e.g. in buildings,
on private land, etc.)
Filming permits
• City (e.g. LA) gives permission to film in that city
• State of California if using gov’t employees
