Photo courtsey of Runner1616 (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0]
So you’re a filmmaker or content creator (maybe you're a Youtber or Social Media Influencer?). You capture the world around you and bring incredible stories to movie screens and small screens all over the world. You make documentaries, features or maybe even online videos that you share on Youtube, Instagram, TikTok, or another social media service.
You’re collaborative, often working informally with a team of techs, writers and other filmmakers. Sometimes you draw up contracts as part of business, but sometimes you just focus on getting your video ready to premier. Which is fine... until you and your scriptwriter get into a fight about the direction of the film and now they’re forbidding you from making your film with their script. There had to be a way to keep this from happening.
Or, when a crew member decides they own the video footage they shot and can go make their own project with that footage.
Or, when someone who appears in the film decides they think you're going to go Hollywood on them, and suddenly asks you for half of the profits on a film that you've paid for out of your own pocket.
Or, when you need specific music for your film, and it requires actually interacting with a giant record company and making sure you get in writing all the rights you're going to need to feel confident about showing your film around the world from the internet to theatres.
You often shoot out in public and you wonder if there’s a problem with filming people in crowds. And what about the music playing in the background coming from the In & Out that happens to be in the background? Could that be a problem?
You might even be a remix artist, taking existing content and putting together something completely new and different. Or at least you think it’s new and different, but the DMCA takedown notice in your in-box seems to say otherwise. And you’re not entirely sure what to do with that takedown notice. You also wonder if maybe there is some content online you could use and only need to say where you got it from, now that would make your life so much easier. Maybe you’re even wondering if it was feasible to get a license as an independent filmmaker.
Or maybe you make documentaries. You expose corruption wherever it may be. You try to track down the facts but maybe the state or federal government won’t turn over those documents. And sometimes you worry too. What if by secretly recording that politician, I did something illegal? Did I maybe go too far with that last video? Should I really have used that video clip?
That’s why New Media Rights provides free, reduced fee and competitive fee legal services. If you’re a filmmaker we can help with the following issues.
- Pre-Publication review for copyright, trademark and fair use.
- Review and writing of contracts.
- Licensing songs and other content as well as counseling on openly licensed content.
- Video releases for shooting in crowds.
- Respond to a DMCA takedown notice or cease and desist letters.
- Respond to other unfair content takedowns, access limitations, and account terminations.
- Help writing DMCA takedown notices and enforcement of copyrighted works.
- First Amendment Free Speech Issues.
- FOIA and Public Records Act requests.
- Legal advice regarding covert recording.
- Avoiding and responding to defamation.
- An entire library of film equipment in San Diego to check out, for free or low cost!
Now that you know how New Media Rights can help you, please feel free to fill in our contact form here.
