[Bryce Leverich]

Thanks guys I appreciate it. Turns out things are really out of whack. Not only was my edit wrong, but the cover art was incorrect, the slate was incorrect and the menus were incorrect. Sounds like an internal problem to me. I have nothing to do with cover art, and that was WAY off as well.

It also turns out that the DVDs were not authored by my company, we started in late 2006, not 2004. That will definitely be a completely new bill for any authoring done.

As far as the editing goes, I am sure everyone has run into that client that says “It’s just text, you can change that REAL easily, right?” That’s the type of thing I am looking at right now. Yeah, text is easy, but I do not have any of my original project files for the open that was created in AE. So in order to change the text, it will be a completely new AE project, from scratch. To change the text will take 10-15 hours of motion graphics work and designing… Yes, all this to change a 3 into a 4.

Thanks again!

[Bryce Leverich]

First, thanks for all of your advice. I do have an attorney that I am working with, and I will run it by them asap.

As far as them having raw footage that was brought to me, it doesn’t exist. We shot all of the raw footage, I am looking at the tapes right now 🙂

Our production company handled this project from pre-production through completion. The video is watermarked by the music we added to the production. The music is a scratch track that has not yet been paid for, so the music itself is watermarked. I will send them a new copy if they decide to pay for the music, but this copy WILL contain a watermark and TC burn.

What we have been paid for so far is half of a shooting day rate. They still owe us for the other half of the shooting, the editing, and the DVD authoring. If they have partially paid, as mention in the previous sentence, do they own any of it?

The thing that really gets me on this project is that it was done on a VERY discounted rate. Over 60% off what we normally do the productions for.

I will talk to my attorney and let you know of any real legal advice that comes out of it. Maybe it will help someone else in the future.

Thanks again.

[Bryce Leverich]

Eric,
The details are this. The Client is a production company that hires my company to shoot/edit/dvd author their products. I took credit for exactly what my company did, shoot/edit/author. That was spelled out on my site. I gave them credit for producing and owning the footage, I even gave a direct link to their site to purchase the video. I was not taking credit for anything that my company did not do. The clips were not shown in a “demo reel” fashion, they were direct links to youtube videos that the company put up (actually, paid me to put up for them).

My client is the ultimate client. They produce videos and sell them on a retail level. My company is hired to shoot, edit and author their videos.

On my site, I linked examples of their videos (the youtube links). On the page, I said, “This is work we have produced for our clients. We were responsible for the shooting, editing and DVD authoring of the following videos. To purchase these videos please visit http://www.ClientsWebSite.com.”

I really think all of this was a communication error. I have been granted permission to use their clips before, and I have done so. I assumed that since I was able to do it in the past that it would be ok to do it now. I think that they were mostly upset that, according to them, it appeared that I was taking credit.

Since my first post, they have responded with something along the lines of “we understand your need to showcase your work, we would really just like to re-word your page containing our video content.” So hopefully the problem is solved.

So to get everything straight… I didn’t take credit for something I didn’t do. I did ask for permission to use their footage in a demo reel, assuming I could use them on my website was wrong on my part.
So as of now, they are removed. I have a conference call coming up addressing the clips, and I will let everyone know how it goes.

Thanks again!

[Bryce Leverich]

Thanks for the help. In response to Mark’s assumption that the footage may have been something that they did not want to release to the public… The clips I linked were put on Youtube by the original producer. I simply embedded the clips on my site, and took ownership of what I did in the production.

I have used video in the past from this client on my older demo reels, and they were aware that I was using the clips, and everything was Kosher. The thing that made them upset this time around was that I put the clips under “Our Work”. They took this as me taking credit for producing the titles, which was not the case. They were cited as the original producers, and I listed what my company did in regards to the production. I understand where they are coming from, but as a freelancer, I need to show potential clients my work.

Either way, my main question was not if I was getting more work from them, or a lesson in rapport. I was asking if I can legally put clips that my company created on my company’s website. Based on the previous replies, I assume the answer is no.

Thanks!