Trademarks Appearing In Your Film – How to Use Marks Owned by Others

December 19, 2011 articles Comments Off on Trademarks Appearing In Your Film – How to Use Marks Owned by Others

I. Concerns and questions from filmmakers

A common ongoing concern of filmmakers is whether and to what extent a trademarked image may be included in a film. Questions abound in the film community about whether someone’s logo can be used in the film, what if any is the difference, if any,  if it is filmed from a public place, and what about famous public buildings? Filmmaking message boards often include robust discussions about the concept of product placement and its role in independent films. In these technologically advanced days, the question of whether YouTube may be used to advertise or update progress of a film, and whether trademarks can be included in trailers uploaded to that site. You cannot take anything you want off the internet, and owners of trademarks and other intellectual property will be watching to make sure their materials are not uploaded to the internet without their permission. The items on the internet may be there with permission, though you will not be able to tell that from viewing the photograph or clip. It also may have been taken and uploaded without permission, and the uploader may have already gotten a threatening letter from a lawyer representing the material’s copyright holder. It is a rare case that programs or clips on the internet are in the public domain, and the risk of not being able to obtain insurance or distribution for your film is not worth taking the material. In addition, YouTube now has an automatic video monitoring service called “Claim Your Content” which will automatically identify copyrighted material and remove it from its site.[1] You may check back to see the clip you took from YouTube and find that it has been removed, which is a pretty good indication it was uploaded without permission. Trademark holders are especially diligent in ferreting out uses of their mark in an unfair way to bolster marketing of a film or other product, associating unrelated products with their goodwill and benefiting from their works without paying for them.

view full post »

Legally Obtaining Rights to Music for Your Film

October 19, 2011 articles Comments Off on Legally Obtaining Rights to Music for Your Film

Introduction

Music is often a very important part of a filmmaker’s creative vision in putting together a film, and the collaboration between musicians and filmmakers can result in great things for both parties. From the point of view of the musician, the use of his or her music in a film brings up not only issues of payment, but of attribution, business relationships, and reputation as well. The filmmaker has to think of how he or she would feel if some of his or her work was used in another film or project, and the rights to be protected. The clearance of rights to music are mostly negotiated and not statutory, and involved people and entities other than the musician, such as record companies, music publishers, and music performance societies. Whether the filmmaker wants to use existing music or commissioned music, there are certain steps which must be taken, which can be costly and time-consuming. This paper will lay out some of the basics to determining the rights involved and how music can legally be obtained for a film. To ignore these steps and attempt to use music without obtaining rights to it, either because you think your film is `too small’, the amount of music used is `minimal’, or not enough money will be made to make a difference to the rights holders, is a risky and foolish proposition. As most filmmakers dream of their film “making it big” even if it starts small, you would be foreclosing yourself from that ever happening if you use music that has not been cleared. You will not be able to get a distribution deal, may have lawsuits filed against you and everyone involved in making the film, and at the very least may have to reshoot your film without the music that has not been cleared. This will not only be very costly to you, but may ruin your reputation for future filmmaking. There are ways to obtain music more cheaply, but first you have to think about others’ rights and plan the use of music in your film ahead of time. Balancing the cost of clearances with the need for certain music will help you to form a budget for your film and make sure you are not causing yourself extra problems with your production.

view full post »

Limited Liability Companies for Films

September 9, 2011 articles One comment

I. Basics of LLCs

Independent filmmakers are busy people and often wear many hats. The producer of an independent film is often the person organizing the numerous tasks and people doing them to put a film together. To make sure he is not the one holding the bag for everything at the end of the production, the filmmaker needs a business organization that spells out who does what, who is responsible for paying for things, how those people are to work together, and under what circumstances they are to break up. The creative rush of working on a film sometimes has the effect of putting the business organization on the back burner, but this can have dire consequences. Like any group of people forming to do business, a film should have a formal business form, or the principals will be liable for all the debts of the project personally. If there is no business form registered, the participants will be treated and taxed as a partnership, with each partner liable for his or her divided share of the debts. A single person making a film will be treated and taxed as a sole proprietor, and will report film income and debts as his own, on his personal income tax form. The organization form which is the easiest and most suited for a film production involving a group of people is the Limited Liability Company, or LLC governed in Ohio by Ohio Revised Code Chapter 1705.[1]

view full post »
  Recent Entries »