ASK & DISCUSS INDEX

4 years, 4 months ago - Marlom Tander

Seek permission from the copyright owner of the material you want to use. Written permission is permission.

Google would point you towards a corporate route and a family one...

4 years, 4 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

I can only offer the "right" answer as opposed to the "what you might get away with" answer. You need to clear the images, you need to clear the footage, and you want to be cautious having a character called "Laraine Day" at all . In features, we get clearances for all that stuff ahead of shooting, and that includes name searches! Calling your character "Laraine" (better still, "Loraine" - "Laraine" looks a bit like a SAG/Equity/Stage name as there was already a Loraine?) without a surname would be fine, but naming a fictional character after a real one risks confusion and people getting upset - especially if you are clearly aware of "the" Laraine by having a photo!

Each photo or clip will be copyrighted by the photographer and/or producer, although they may have sold image rights to a holding agency with a clearing agent like Getty who will absolutely come for payment. Clearing before use is always cheaper than getting caught!

In short, every single thing in any kind of focus in a film is put there, and needs clearance.

4 years, 4 months ago - Moira Rowan

Hi
My character isn't named completely after the actress only her first name and the same spelling, if I can't get around the copyright issue I will just mention she was named after a film star as her mother was a fan of the cinema? without mentioning her full name would this work

4 years, 4 months ago - John Lubran

Moira describes the project as a documentary, but is it more like a drama posing as a documentary?

There's an important difference.

An actual documentary relying on factuality is a fundamentally different thing to fiction, including dramatised documentary that includes elements of fact. Truth and fact is always in the public domain unless exploited improperly. Such improprieties include misrepresentation by association and over exploitation amongst other things. Parallel action incidential to factuality that might otherwise not be can be in the public domain if not improperly exploited. There's a common sense theme to what's in the public domain that once 'clicked' becomes self evident.

Broadcasters and distributers however are often risk averse to the degree of extreme paranoia and for that reason alone being compliant with their requirements is more important than actual law. Nevertheless factual films are far less vulnerable to intellectual and material property challenges than are fiction dramas.

Moira mentions a real person who is named after an actress. If that's her real name there's unlikely to be a problem. There's no Equity barrier if the subject is not using her real name as an actor. Appearing as oneself in a factual documentary is not acting.

Without knowing the specifics and contexts it's not possible to be definitive about the case at issue.

The devil is in the detail.

4 years, 4 months ago - John Lubran

I doubt that referencing anyone by their full name is a copyright violation, even in a fiction drama. Slander and misrepresentation is always vulnerable except as excused by comedic parody, satire and factual truth.

Using a photo of an actress in a factual documentary depends on context and where the photo was recorded. For example, a photo or picture displayed in the public domain, on a billboard, published in newspaper or magazine, or on the mantelpiece of your subjects home can be relevant and incidental. Using film or photographs that don't appear incidentally is another matter. The copyright owners permission would usually be required even in a documentary. However such is not cast in legal stone. Context and factual fair use can trump everything. If in doubt get advice or permission.

For broadcasters and distributors however, every second needs to be clear of any challenge, either by permissions and releases or by right of fair use or public domain.

Factual documentary has as much licence to free use of a lot more material than fiction, as does news and current affairs.

If these things were not so the reporting of news and current affairs would be difficult to the point of constitutional crisis.

4 years, 4 months ago - John Lubran

My observations are mostly common to western free democracy countries, though there can be some differences. Outside of those domains there can be big differences; some stricter but also some looser

4 years, 4 months ago - Tony Franks

Paddy's comment "Getty who will absolutely come for payment" is spot on. They chased me for 100's of £, for my unintentional use of a mundane cinema interior image...