Do I have the right to ask for royalties?

[Mike Cohen]

In general, if you are hired as a freelance contractor, you are hired to do the work only. You are not part of the company that is selling the product, nor do you have a contract specifying your business relationship – or do you? – then you probably don’t have a leg to stand on. Many of these inquiries come down to a contract.

Mike Cohen

[Shane Ross]

Crew never has the rights to royalties, unless stated so in a contract. Even on projects you work on that are sold again and again, you don’t get royalties. You are “work for hire.” You performed a task, and were paid for that task.

Television crew don’t get royalties for shows that are then sold on DVD. Nor are feature crews. They are “below the line,” meaning that they were hired to perform a job and were paid for that job. The only people who get royalties are those “above the line.” Directors, producers, writers, actors, studio.

Shane

GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
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[Gabriela Lozano]

First of all, Mike and Shane, thanks a lot for your answers.
I think I may not explained well my position. The point is that I was no crew at all, I produced the whole thing. I did the pre-production; hired the production crew, rented the cameras, dollies, jibs/cranes, etc. rented the edition room, hired the editor, colorist, animator; authored the DVD, made the disk imprints, labels of the case, etc. I read this article: https://www.digitaljuice.com/magazine/articles/2006_034_vtx.asp
and I think I was not employee and therefor I do have the rights of the video. So, does this change the picture or it stays the same.
Thanks a lot again you guys, cheers
Gabriela

[Gav Bott]

“So, does this change the picture or it stays the same.”

Stays the same – unless your contract says otherwise……….

Unless you have some other kind of agreement in place – once you deliver your clip it’s theirs to market as best they can.

Get paid for the work you agreed to – they make a bundle and hire you again to repeat the process.

The Brit in Brisbane
The Pomme in Production – Brisbane Australia.

[Allen Sullivan]

Gabriela,

Coming from a family of attorneys and having once had to take a copyright case to court (successfully), I think you’re on to something with the link you posted. I suggest you pose your question to a qualified intellectual property attorney.

I am relatively new to licensing video work and know that some norms are different than in other fields. I come from a still photography background and have found the discussions here at Creative Cow the most enlightening anywhere on all aspects of video production.

I do know that a creator of intellectual property owns the rights to what they create unless otherwise agreed to contractually (in the U.S. at least). Getting it all in writing, ahead of time, helps deter confusion and bad situations.

Allen

[Richard Herd]

Have you recouped all of your negative costs?

[Richard Herd]

Having seen too many movies about “The Family of Attorneys” 😉 please bear in mind I am in no way challenging your expertise when I ask: doesn’t music video production belong to the originator of the work, namely the band?

This has been a topic of much discussion in other forums, if not this one too.

[Grinner Hester]

You can bring this up any way you wanna word but it will translate to “laugh at me then never hire me again.”
Wish em the best and stay top of mind, should another project surfice. You can negotiate your way out of the gig at that time.

[Jeremy Doyle]

[Shane Ross] “Television crew don’t get royalties for shows that are then sold on DVD. Nor are feature crews. They are “below the line,” meaning that they were hired to perform a job and were paid for that job. The only people who get royalties are those “above the line.” Directors, producers, writers, actors, studio. “

How is the line determined? Just curious as I know the DP and Editor are just as much part of telling the story as the actors.

[Shane Ross]

[Jeremy Doyle] “How is the line determined?”

By the unions. This was all determined early EARLY on when editors were mainly technicians, and didn’t really get into the creative part. But when they did get more involved in the creative, and in many ways contribute the same as a director, often times more by saving a movie through editing…they still can’t get above the line as the union isn’t as strong as the others. Greed…

Shane

GETTING ORGANIZED WITH FINAL CUT PRO DVD…don’t miss it.
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def