ASK & DISCUSS
INDEXbest places to discuss cinematography delivery / legal issues intoerms of contracts and copywright.
12 years, 1 month ago - John David Clay
am a working cinematographer going back to set in the next weeks do can one best deal with crew contract in realtion to pay - also as a writer I would be interested in most effective way of copyrighting work beside registering with WGA (as told just recently at the GFM 2013 at rengent colleage . How also can cinematographers / oeprator best communciate with the sound as I have come to feel a balance is necessary to avoid excessive arguement on set and effecive interdispline make filming work more effectively.
- Having just been inspiring listening Chris Jones s It has just made me wonder about finding people who shortcut the lengthly contractual side of the filmming process.
Do let me know and I'll get back to you.
Thanks
John
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12 years, 1 month ago - John Lubran
Good grief John! As a dyslexic myself I find spell check and careful proofing of my own writing to be the solution. Anyway, I digress.
With regard to camera and sound departments working coherently together I'd have to say that if there's a problem of incessant argument then one or both parties are being unprofessional. With regards to contracts and agreements the best way to have clarity, if one does not have a legal brain or a decent lawyer, is a Letter of Agreement and Intent laying out the mutually agreed fundamental aims of the agreement. Common sense and Common Law are still supreme in Britain even if perverse judgments are still allowed to pass unchallenged. A Letter of Agreement and Intent can be laid out in any way at all provided that it is universally coherent in plain English; so maybe get someone else to write it! The beauty of a Letter of Agreement and Intent over a complex, often expensive and lengthy contract is that any adjudication under English Law will be based on what is reasonable according to the ‘spirit of intent’ rather than what some small print trickery might otherwise assert. (The words 'Any adjudication flowing from this agreement shall be under the jurisdiction of English Law' or, if applicable, Scottish Law, but not both, should be the last paragraph). Sometimes less is more.
With regard to original copyright, as opposed to acquired copyright; it's all about being able to prove precedence and originality. Bits of printed legalese and/or the assertion of notices such as ‘©John David Clay 2013’ might be sufficient provided you can back it up with evidence if challenged. Evidence can be created in a number of ways such as signed dated witness affidavits counter witnessed by a solicitor, the fee is £5, together with a sealed and dated package containing the intellectual property sent to and retained by a bank, solicitor or other respectable body. (Don’t be mislead by spurious hearings that have rejected such instruments. Proof is Proof and any jury can discern the truth.)
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