Permission for shooting

[Todd Terry]

Well, first of all… make sure you know what is public and what is private.

You said “a public place like a Starbucks.” A Starbucks is very definitely NOT a public place, it is a private place. A “public place” is going to be a street, a city park, whatever… but anything like a coffee shop is going to be private property.

So the answer is YES, you must have permission not only from the persons being photographed, but from the property owner as well. If you wish to have your film distrubuted, a distributor may require you to provide signed releases… not only talent releases for the people appearing in it, but also PROPERTY releases signed by the owners or controlers of any private property you shoot on.

And yes, there are issues with blurring someone face if you can still hear and recognize their voice.

I’d suggest contacting an entertainment attorney for all the particularities and legalities. Not just any old lawyer… needs to be an entertainment attorney.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Tom Maloney]

Also to add to Todd’s great reply, if you use an image with the trademark name visible ( Coke, Nike, Starbucks ) be sure to get written permission. Even hollywood has to do this.

good luck
Tom

[Walter Biscardi]

[Todd at Fantastic Plastic] “So the answer is YES, you must have permission not only from the persons being photographed, but from the property owner as well. I”

And just to add to this, you will need permission not only from the local franchisee, but in the case of a chain like Starbucks also from the corporate headquarters. This will be true of any retail / restaurant chain.

Walter Biscardi, Jr.
https://www.biscardicreative.com
HD Editorial & Animation for Broadcast and independent productions.

All Things Apple Podcast! https://cowcast.creativecow.net/all_things_apple/index.html

Read my blog! https://blogs.creativecow.net/WalterBiscardi

[Kerry Brown]

Not sure about trademarks, they are not a copyright issue.
What about cars in your bakgrounds? Ford emblem? You are not violating their trademark by showing them in your film. Normally trademarkks are blurred or not shown due to them not agreeing to pay a fee to have them shown.

KB

[Bruce Bennett]

We had a copyright attorney present at our local MCA-I chapter meeting this year. She indicated that you cannot have copyrighted material in the shots (subject matter and/or background). Things like paintings, movie posters, band posters, t-shirts with copyrighted designs, etc. And, believe it or not, tattoo artists hold the copyright on everything they do if they haven

[Grinner Hester]

you need a release from anyone who speaks. (technically)
Chain stores are hard because of company policies sometimes. I have great luck, walking in, being nice to the manager and lettin em know what I am up to. Phone calls are no good here… not at this level. Just too easy for em to say no. At the same time, ya can’t show up with a crew ad start asking then either. Feel it out before hand. Use your people skills. Smile alot.

[Rick Pearl]

What if I am somehow able to shoot video in some establishment, though I do not get permission to do so.

What if I do not show a corporate logo, though some of the corporate colors
and decor is visible. So maybe it is at a Starbucks and the green colors on the wall are visible, or the blue and yellow of a Blockbuster video store???

Thanks!!!!

[Bruce Bennett]

[rick.pearl] “What if I am somehow able to shoot video in some establishment, though I do not get permission to do so.”

Plain and simple. If you do so, you have exposed yourself to future legal problems.

Bruce Bennett,
Bennett Marketing & Media Production, LLC – http://www.bmmp.com