ASK & DISCUSS INDEX

12 years, 2 months ago - Lee 'Wozy' Warren

I agree with Louise. Simply - don't do it. It's hard enough getting indie films shown without the additional hurdle you are asking about. If you havent already shot your scene, change it and if you have already shot it, cut it out!

Best

Lee
@wozyW

12 years, 2 months ago - Louise Marie Cooke

Thanks Ryan, Lee and Peter. I'll have to go back to the drawing board. Do you know if I can even legally have a character say 'Rebel Without A Cause' or 'James Dean' in my film?

Thanks

12 years, 2 months ago - Peter Ward

Intellectual property is taken super serous. Don't use it all. Even if you find some loop hole that is valid in the country of distribution--in reality the laws are far from cut and dry-the copyright owner may still sue and you'll have to deal with the time and expense defending yourself in court. And any hint of a possible suit will of course scare away distributes.

If there's no way around using copywrited content then you need to hire a lawyer up to research for you--find out what the precedents are, who owns the material, the owners track record etc. A lawyer's rubber stamp is about the only thing that will make someone else even want to touch it.

12 years, 2 months ago - Ryan Hooper

Hi Louise
This can be confusing so i'll be as succinct as possible. There's no way you will legally get away with showing RWAC on screen unless it was unavoidable (incidental inclusion) I.e. my last short was in a block of flats and there is copyrighted music being played in a different flat that is audible, thats permisssble, as its an example of Incidental Inclusion. In addition you can usually get a Fair Use defence for educational use, social critique or news reporting.
Basically:
- Film Festivals won't accept unlicensed copyrighted material.
- Duration on screen has nothing to do with it (the '30 second rule' for music and images is a myth and has no basis in law).
- It does not matter if you are or are not making money out of it, breach of copyright is breach of copyright, unless covered by the Fair Use provisos

So unless it was an accident/unavoidable or your film is a news piece or being used as social critique you can't use it. Be wary of the social critique defence, every filmmaker thinks their work is social critique and it usually isn't.

Don't use RWAC unless you can pay for it.

12 years, 2 months ago - Lee 'Wozy' Warren

Sorry I meant I agree with Ryan... Doh!

12 years, 2 months ago - Lee 'Wozy' Warren

Personally I'd steer clear. But if your character was called James Dean, don't make him look like the 'Actor' James Dean or any of the famous roles he played - like Jim Stark. I'm sure that somewhere out there, there is a real guy, probably milking cows or writing insurance, whose real name is James Dean. You never know, he might sue too ;)

Good luck.

12 years, 2 months ago - Ryan Hooper

Hi Louise

Yes your character can say the words Rebel Without A Cause and James Dean without causing an issue. You can't copyright a phrase or a name.