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Who owns raw footage?
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The problem with posting contracts is that laws vary state-by-state and country-by-country.
I might help offline, but I wouldn’t publish my own companies contracts publicly on the internet for several reasons. The most important is that I don’t want someone using it and then blaming me for whether or not it’s enforceable in their location and situation.
The reason I pay an attorney isn’t so much for drafting the agreement, but rather drafting an enforceable agreement AND standing behind it and being able to knowledgeably defend it if, or when, the time comes to debate the agreement in court.
In my opinion, Bruce Bennett hit the nail on the head with his answer. I have shelf full of books about copyright law (for both video and music), but if I have questions about copyright law, the first place I go is http://www.copyright.gov, to pretend I
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Still photographers also have a professional association that backs them up and gives them legal recourse if someone reprints their work without permission. Most wedding videographers also belong to this same association and abide by its tenets and rules. Maybe that is what we as DPs and “videographers” need as well! ;>) I also can’t remember the last time a producer or director I worked for had control over lighting, camera placement, whether to dolly or not, composition, etc.. Those are my responsibilities as DP, as well as the overall artistic look of a film, the film stock used, HD format required, lens selection, etc. They hire me for that kind of expertise. Most producers I work with get all the minutae in place for the production, and the directors work closely with the actors. But again, that is one definition of actually being a “DP” versus being a “videographer.” In my DP work, any interaction with a director is highly collaborative, they aren’t just hiring a “video guy” to cover a speech.
As was mentioned previously, a “template” contract would never work, as each job is different, and every client has different needs. -
Both posts by you and Bruce make perfect sense to me. I am going to go over this with the lawyer again in case I misunderstood something along the way. The “work for hire” clause certainly sounds correct and sensible.
Steve Wargo
Tempe, Arizona
It’s a dry heat!Sony HDCAM F-900 & HDW-2000/1 deck
5 Final Cut (not quite PRO) systems
Sony HVR-M25 HDV deck
Sony EX-1 on the way. -
[Timothy J. Allen] “because most laypeople don
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[Timothy J. Allen] “have a Producer and Director picking the shots for them and directing the lighting, models etc. It
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[Rennie] “Advertisements, promo videos, music videos, movies are all like dreams, and who ever 1st conceives the original vision owns copyright. Just because we film it and add our visionary skills in lighting and composition to it’s creation doesn’t over ride the original creators copyright. If we script it, storyboard it, and create the overall concept, then we own copyright. In many situations this is a joint creation between you, the technical creator and the client.”
I think this is an area where many people do not understand what can and cannot be copyrighted. I believe your statement is probably false since ideas, dreams and concepts are not “things” and are NOT considered copyrightable works. My lawyers said that in order for a work to be copyrighted, it MUST be in a form in which it can be reproduced/duplicated. Dreams, ideas and concepts are not “works” — they are dreams, ideas and concepts. The idea or concept needs to be written, sketched, painted, etc. in a physical form that can be reproduced (i.e., script, storyboard). No physical form = no copyright.
This goes back to my original statement that people must understand that composing an image is NOT the same as creating/recording something that is physical (i.e., negative, painting, tattoo, etc.) in which the physical image can be duplicated/reproduced. It must be a “finished work” in order to be copyrighted, and he/she who creates the finished work (not the idea or concept) owns copyright.
Bruce
Bruce Bennett,
Bennett Marketing & Media Production, LLC – http://www.bmmp.com -
[Bruce Bennett in Madison, WI] “It must be a “finished work” in order to be copyrighted, and he/she who creates the finished work (not the idea or concept) owns copyright.”
A ‘finished work’ can be a single sheet paper describing the idea or concept and that can be copyrighted. A patent is not all that different, whether or not it sees production.
If a screenwriter uses the idea to create a script – another copyright is created. If produced, another. But if the concept guy is not paid, neither copyright is ‘clean.’
An old trick for protecting a concept was to have it notarized, put in a sealed envelope and mailed to yourself and left sealed until the day you need it in court. (Better than an NDA)
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Steve,
Yes, those are fairly common descriptions of those job titles. What complicates it as far as copyright law goes – even if the people working on the project agree on that description of their respective roles, the descriptions don’t nail down who the creator of the content really was, it just shows that it was a collaborative effort. So – how do you divide the money from the intellectual property ownership?Some could argue that it’s the Editor that “brings all the elements together” on the tangible expression of the product – which is actually the only thing that can be copyrighted anyway. This is especially true if the Editor contributes his or her own “creative expression” to the work, rather than just assembling an EDL. (That argument isn’t that strong if the final product is a clear expression and result of a Producer’s or client’s “vision”.)
It occurs to me that copyright protection is probably a key reason that film jobs have been traditionally divided up into such specific roles in Hollywood, where there is a lot of money at stake when it comes to questions regarding who is the “creator” of the tangible expression fo the product.
None of it think that it’s the duplication house… do we? 😉
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Dunno what gigs you’ve been working on, but–
[Christopher Wright] “can’t remember the last time a producer or director I worked for had control over lighting, camera placement, whether to dolly or not, composition, etc..”
Not the producer, of course, but the director should always have control over camera placement, camera blocking (dollys, etc.)… There are exceptions of course, especially with directors who are just very actor/story driven (Woody Allen, etc)., but in the rest of the world the director takes care of those things. The Spielbergs call their own shots, camera blocking, etc.—
A very good DP can have a very heavy responsibility in helping the director craft a look of a film, and they are always welcome to suggest camera blocking, camera moves, composition– and some are heavily relied upon, especially by directors who don’t like to do it or find that is not their forte. However those things are the director’s call. In the strictest sense, a DP is just that, the director of PHOTOGRAPHY– and is reponsible for lighting and recording the director’s image on film. I’ve rarely been on film sets where the DP had the call on camera blocking, composition, movement, or even lens selection– other than to say “this is the lens that will effect that field of view.” Those are the director’s jobs.
I’m not knocking either directors or DP’s– I have worked as both– sometimes one, sometimes the other, sometimes as both at the same time. But they are two very different jobs. Good directors already know what camera blocking, dolly moves, crane moves, and composition they want. It then becomes the DPs heavy responsibility to make those look good photographically.
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An old trick for protecting a concept was to have it notarized, put in a sealed envelope and mailed to yourself and left sealed until the day you need it in court. (Better than an NDA)
Just my 2 cents that doesnt work in court. The best way is to spend the money and copyright it. Then again I am not sure concepts can be copyrighted.
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