-
New to Documentaries
An idea came to me which was to think about filming a documentary on Ed Parker’s Kenpo Karate. After filming I would plan on sending it to a few stations if they would pick it up, although I am not sure about legal issues on this. Ed Parker is no longer alive (creator of American Kenpo Karate) who was actually Elvis’ instructor and bodyguard. Can anyone give me advice about copyright issues or if there is any for a martial art? I don’t want to get in trouble making it then receiving money without permission, although I don’t know if it is needed or not…
-
2 Replies
-
Backwoods,
Simple advice is to seek out a lawyer experienced in motion picture rights. It might require a skilled researcher too to find out more about your subject; namely, does anyone else already own thr rights you seek. Are there books written on the sub cject? Even though your Ed Parker is dead, there might be an estate which controls his story, it’s endless!
You are correct in wondering about wasting your time (and money) but it’s the only way to protect yourself in the long term. The thought process you’re going through is what every other filmmaker does, and sometimes great films are produced, othertimes (more frequently) nothing comes of it!
Good luck,
JS
-
Backwoods,
I am sure more people will follow up with more usefull advice but I wanted to bring up an important point.
Emre
http://www.productionpit.com
Boxx Tech PC, dual-dual AMD 2.0,4BG ram,Avidexpress HD w/Mojo, Adobe production studio.
“Never judge a book, from it’s movie.”
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up