Footage Destroyed!

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brystew_512

Member
If someone erases your tapes that were filmed on your own free time and they were of important value would there be any way of bringing this person to justice.

He was on the tapes erased but he allowed me to film it for my documentary about a famous musician. I can explain more if need be but I am just looking for some general advice.

Thanks!
 
Ouch!

Talk to a lawyer, man. In a case as serious as this, don't rely on legal advice from a bunch of virtual strangers on a message board.

Good luck!
 
If you owned the tapes, he had no right to destroy your property. You could sue him for damages. Talk to an attorney, the problem you might have is figuring out what your damages are.
 
brystew_512 said:
If someone erases your tapes that were filmed on your own free time and they were of important value would there be any way of bringing this person to justice.

He was on the tapes erased but he allowed me to film it for my documentary about a famous musician. I can explain more if need be but I am just looking for some general advice.

Thanks!
Click to expand...


Details please.
 
ESTEBEVERDE said:
Details please.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm a little confused too.

Are you saying that
1) You interviewed a guy on camera for a documentary about a famous musician.
2) He later decided that he didn't like what he said on camera...so he got a hold of your tapes and erased them? Only his interview right?
 
This whole erasing tapes thing brings back bad memories. I hired a guy to DP a short dramatic film we did several years ago. After the shoot, he was supposed to edit the film, so he took the tapes with him. After several months of not hearing from him and not being able to get in contact with him, he finally confessed that he had erased all of the tapes and used them on another project. Thank GOD I'd made copies of the tapes before giving them to him!

A couple years later I heard he did exactly the same thing on a FEATURE project that he was director on. Luckily, I'd warned that project's producer about what happened on our shoot, so she made sure to copy the tapes before turning them over to him. What a jerk he was!

Hope your situation is better.
 
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I don't know. As I recall, he didn't have an actual job -- so maybe he was that poor. Still, you're right -- it's really sad. Bad thing is, he was a half-decent director and cameraman. He's got two features that he directed that are sitting on video store shelves as we speak. As far as I know, though, he hasn't done anything significant since he screwed over the other producer I mentioned.
 
It was footage that involved the person who erased them but it had other valuable shots as well. We shot at a radio station and a Hummer dealership that the radio show was promoting. I can prove what was on them because I have some of it digitized for editing but most of it was lost. As long as I know I can try something I will I just wanted some oponions from others because I am new to all of this. The footage was definentaly something that could be considered valuable for a documentary of the magnitude that I have been shooting this for.

It follows an artist's rise to the top from the bottom. I have been filming stuff for over 7 years now and it is going very well.

Thats all i can really say without giving to much information.

Thanks everyone for your time to answer my questions.
 
If the tapes were your property, and you either filmed the content on them, or it was filmed on your behalf, then it is possible that you could sue for the cost of replacing the footage, (ie filming it again if that's possible) or for compensation if it's not possible to film it again.
As has been quite correctly pointed out, you'd need detailed legal advice to clarify the situation
 
You should talk to someone qualified but some additional background info might help.

How did he get in a position to erase your tapes?
Did you hand the camera over to him with them in it, leave him unattended at an edit bay, etc.?

Another question?
Do you think it was done out of mailce, or could it have been an accident?

Have you talked to him about it?
Bringing him to justice has a very Byzantine ring to it.

You might be able to get him for lost time, but otherwise that's sort of what having a contingency fee/insurance is for.
Contacting previous subjects or locations and explaining the situation might help you get a reshoot.

I've heard of similiar things being done when partnerships go sour etc.

I
 
Most important, did you have any kind of contract/signed release allowing you to film 1) This person 2) in that radio station 3) in that hummer dealership? How many tapes are we talking about, how much material? If the footage you want compensation for is all of this eraser guy, and you have no contract/release allowing you to use his image, then I doubt you'll get much satisfaction beyond, perhaps, the cost of a tape. But talk to a lawyer.
 
I'm sorry, but it really doesn't sound like you have anything going for you.

If it was important stuff, you back it up. Have more than one hard tape with it. Put it on more than one harddrive. Also that little tabby thing on the tapes, flipping that protects it from being erased or written over.

Same thing with a harddrive. Say you are working on this kickass film. Digital effects like crazy, editing like amazing, and sound design...like cool.

And you all have it on one harddrive. That drive goes down one day. You lose the footage and the project files. There is no way you can get it back.

Sucks, yeah.
But really, it was your fault.

Back it up. Keep it in a safe place.
 
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