ASK & DISCUSS INDEX

10 years, 6 months ago - Adeline Royal

Thanks for the tips, however it is still not very clear if I have the right to keep the footage, as the camera opetator and creative eye behing the footage. I guess there needs to be a written agreement.
Yes, I did walk away but not before swearing at the little bastard, a lesson in life. Thanks again.

10 years, 6 months ago - Marlom Tander

Lee - I read it that the footage had been wiped from the card but presumably after being grabbed by the other party? But if no footage exists, then yes, just move on.

10 years, 6 months ago - Lee 'Wozy' Warren

Nice one Marlom :) No one wants a long drawn out court case, because in the end everyone looses (to a degree!) But as you say, even the threat in a lot of cases is enough to push them in the right direction.

Good job :)

Lee

10 years, 6 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

This is going to be complicated and almost certainly worth walking away from.

Cam operator has copyright over the images but unlikely to have any rights over the contents of the images, making it moot. Operator was working for hire/directly for somebody else's benefit, so there is an implied license there also. The nitty gritty is going to be ugly and take a lot more time and effort than its worth in my humble opinion.

Can they do it? They did. Should they do it? Probably not. Did the operator suffer financially? Probably not, or not by much. Will the police care? No. Is it worth civil court action? Extremely unlikely.

Forget the principle of the thing, you can be in the right and no better off. Deep breath, lessen lesson, walk away :)

10 years, 6 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

The answer to your question is maybe, not an absolute. If you as camera op has staged the scene, or noticed a pleasing arrangement of things in the wild, then all rights would be yours. However where you're paid as an employee to point the camera where you're told to, and someone else has paid for all the things that they arrange using creative skills of other employees, no. If you're freelance you probably do retain copyright to the image, but not necessarily the things in the image. There isn't a simple answer. Indeed you might have copyright to the image, be granting a license by default to the commissioner, and not have the right to use the images for your own purposes.

For some recordings of live gigs I've worked on, nobody is under contract. Maybe technically the freelance cameras operators own the original copyright to the footage they shot of Lady Gaga or whoever - but that's pretty meaningless in the reality of production. They can't use the footage, and will never with again if they're dicks about it.

This isn't a copyright question though, it's about removing access to a digital work. This is why this is such a complicated and grey question. The answer, if you want to find an absolute one, is to sue and let the courts decide. It's likely to be around £10k if the case is simple, more if vigorously defended. The actual rights (and wrongs) don't make a heap of difference if you can't enforce them.

10 years, 6 months ago - Marlom Tander

Lee - some years ago, in the days when there were faxes, I sent a fax to the office machine of a company that owed me money, (though I had his own fax number). In it I detailed the process of bankruptcy and the fees, and that I didn't like bullies and would be delighted to bankrupt them even though it would cost me X.

So of course the boss gets handed the fax by an employee who asks if they're going bust....

Paid, in full, by return :-) and at no expense whatsoever to me :-)

The law can be useful, but credible threat is the key to rapid resolutions :-)

10 years, 6 months ago - Marlom Tander

If you don't have the footage then you'll need to sue them to get it. Which probably isn't worth the aggro. Though sometimes a bluff can work wonders if you can convince them that you'll swallow the court costs as a matter of principle :-)

Given that you don't want money, their cheapest fastest best option would be to fold. IF they believe you.

I've won 5 figures that way.

10 years, 6 months ago - Lee 'Wozy' Warren

Marlom - there is no footage - the other party deleted it...! But your strategy would be a good one :)