Client wants copy of all the footage, what do I do???

Ferret Lady

Ferret Lady

Well-known member
Hi, i filmed a concert for a band recently using three cameras. we made a couple music videos out of the footage for the guys, but now they're asking me for the entire footage.

what do you normally do in this situation? it seems unprofessional for me to give them 3 mini-dv tapes, because what if they dont have a video camera to capture the footage with? but what's the alternative? each tape has like an hour of footage on it.. i can't even imagine how many dvds i would have to burn to get that on there... my goodness..

just wondering how others have handled this situation, in case this has happened to any one else... perhaps there is an industry standard i should be following as far as how to provide all footage to the client.. i am talking about the raw, un edited mini dv tapes...

anyways, thanks in advance for your help!!!!
 
interesting pickle. I would suggest giving it to them on Flash drives. I mean I would make them pay extra for the flash drives, but it seems more practical then burning a bunch of dvd's.
 
Maybe I am off base here, but why not make them copies of your DV tapes and give them to them? [Watermarked of course]

If they go to a professional photographer, do they ask for the negatives? And do they get them?

Unless providing the raw tapes was in the contract, the only way I'd give them up would be with a watermark.
 
PerroneFord said:
Maybe I am off base here, but why not make them copies of your DV tapes and give them to them? [Watermarked of course]

If they go to a professional photographer, do they ask for the negatives? And do they get them?

Unless providing the raw tapes was in the contract, the only way I'd give them up would be with a watermark.
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they paid me to film them, so i don't see why it's wrong for me to provide them with the original footage. otherwise, what are they paying for?

they paid an additional fee for me to edit that footage... i'm not gonna put a watermark on it...

but i was just wondering if giving them dv tapes is a normal thing to do, considering that unless they have a video camera to put them in, these tapes would be useless!
 
zergtherobot said:
interesting pickle. I would suggest giving it to them on Flash drives. I mean I would make them pay extra for the flash drives, but it seems more practical then burning a bunch of dvd's.
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good idea, but i just dont feel comfortable charging more! i already charged them $500 to film them that night. to say 'and hey , if you want the footage, you gotta pay more' just seems wrong. u know?

i'm not sure why they even want this stuff cuz i doubt they can edit it themselves, otherwise they wouldnt have hired me right.. but whatever...
 
Simple thing to do would be to ask them if they have a mini dv camera or if thats all they want is the tapes. Or you could just burn them on dual layer dvd's. I imagine you can compress slightly and fit one tape per one dvd easy cheesy. But if it was me I would just ask them that way your not just sitting in the dark.
 
fadedjosh said:
Simple thing to do would be to ask them if they have a mini dv camera or if thats all they want is the tapes. Or you could just burn them on dual layer dvd's. I imagine you can compress slightly and fit one tape per one dvd easy cheesy. But if it was me I would just ask them that way your not just sitting in the dark.
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word. i've asked them and waiting for an email reply.. just curious if there was a normal procedure for this scenario...

thanks!
 
Its just a good idea to settle all the terms of service - including payment - before the production starts. From what you are describing it sounds as though they own the tapes per the description of your agreement. Handing over the original DV field tapes should be no biggie. You finished the edit and now your giving them all their materials.
When I finish a project I give the client all their tape and digital assets . I don't have library space to warehouse all my clients assets. If they need more editing they just give me the external hard drive and we're rocking.
 
ShootDC said:
Its just a good idea to settle all the terms of service - including payment - before the production starts. From what you are describing it sounds as though they own the tapes per the description of your agreement. Handing over the original DV field tapes should be no biggie. You finished the edit and now your giving them all their materials.
When I finish a project I give the client all their tape and digital assets . I don't have library space to warehouse all my clients assets. If they need more editing they just give me the external hard drive and we're rocking.
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yes, good tip, thank you. next time i'll add it to the contract agreement that they sign ahead of time that if the footage is required, mini dv tapes will be provided. if they want it on a flash drive or dvds, additional costs may apply.. or something... :)
 
Usually when you're hired to shoot something you hand over the tapes at the end of the shoot. They typically own the footage unless you've negotiated otherwise. If you want to keep the footage for your reel, maybe you'd like to make copies for yourself. It's best to make sure they are ok with you using it though. Were you specifically asked to provide them with a cutdown/video or were you hired to shoot the show? Very different scenarios.
 
scratchpatchfilms said:
Hi, i filmed a concert for a band recently using three cameras. we made a couple music videos out of the footage for the guys, but now they're asking me for the entire footage.

what do you normally do in this situation? it seems unprofessional for me to give them 3 mini-dv tapes, because what if they dont have a video camera to capture the footage with? but what's the alternative? each tape has like an hour of footage on it.. i can't even imagine how many dvds i would have to burn to get that on there... my goodness..

just wondering how others have handled this situation, in case this has happened to any one else... perhaps there is an industry standard i should be following as far as how to provide all footage to the client.. i am talking about the raw, un edited mini dv tapes...

anyways, thanks in advance for your help!!!!
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There are lots of ways for them to capture the footage besides a video camera. From a technological standpoint it's no issue - you can deliver them duplicate tapes - they can always find, borrow, rent a deck to play them - or you can deliver the footage "precaptured" onto a USB hard drive - they're cheap enough. But the tapes or a drive, etc, are only a vehicle for transporting and storing the intellectual property that is their content and that is the real substance of the request, ownership of the rights to the content - ownership of the physical medium used in the camera is irrelevant. So what was your agreement with the band when you signed on to do the gig?
 
This type of thing also should be handled before you deal with a client. I try to have clients sign for me being allowed to use the footage (or edited parts, etc.) for my reel online and off, and if it's a larger project I definitely have the client pay me for data backup if they're not into the technical side, and if they are, I'd be happy to dump their stuff onto a hard drive and give it to them.

For the last client, I billed for two 500 gig Western Digitals, each with about 325 gigs of project files on them, complete mirrors of one another. I keep one in my office area of the condo, and another in storage three floors below, so in case of some catastrophe like a fire or whatever, there would be several physical drives holding the data.
 
tumbleweed said:
Usually when you're hired to shoot something you hand over the tapes at the end of the shoot. They typically own the footage unless you've negotiated otherwise. If you want to keep the footage for your reel, maybe you'd like to make copies for yourself. It's best to make sure they are ok with you using it though. Were you specifically asked to provide them with a cutdown/video or were you hired to shoot the show? Very different scenarios.
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hi. yes, i did have them sign something before i filmed them that states i can use the footage for my show reel and stuff.

i was hired for two things, filming AND editing. they paid me $500 to film them (ya, not much i know, first paying gig here!) and $100 for each video i edit from it (turning each song into a music video).... also my contract stated they own the rights to the footage once they paid me.. it just doesnt mention if it would be tapes or whatever...

some people are saying i could just buy an extra hard drive but pleae keep in mind this was a low budget thing so adding on another $100 just to get them the footage would be a big deal..
 
JonathanLB said:
This type of thing also should be handled before you deal with a client. I try to have clients sign for me being allowed to use the footage (or edited parts, etc.) for my reel online and off, and if it's a larger project I definitely have the client pay me for data backup if they're not into the technical side, and if they are, I'd be happy to dump their stuff onto a hard drive and give it to them.

For the last client, I billed for two 500 gig Western Digitals, each with about 325 gigs of project files on them, complete mirrors of one another. I keep one in my office area of the condo, and another in storage three floors below, so in case of some catastrophe like a fire or whatever, there would be several physical drives holding the data.
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yeah i think what i'll add into my contracts is that i can provide them the mini dv tapes, but if they need it precaptured on an external harddrive there will an additional cost of such and such dollars...
 
Give them a dubb and keep the original.

Its their problem how they play it back but you will have fullfilled their request professionally.
 
tumbleweed said:
Usually when you're hired to shoot something you hand over the tapes at the end of the shoot. They typically own the footage unless you've negotiated otherwise. If you want to keep the footage for your reel, maybe you'd like to make copies for yourself. It's best to make sure they are ok with you using it though. Were you specifically asked to provide them with a cutdown/video or were you hired to shoot the show? Very different scenarios.
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In fact technically the way it actually works is, unless they negotiate otherwise, you own the original footage and are under no obligation to turn them over to them.

You shot it and unless it is specifically stated otherwise in the contract, you are the copyright holder. This is exactly why wedding photographers usually won't turn the negatives over to you and exactly why Kinko's won't make a color copy of your Olan Mills family photo.

Now, that being said, I don't think it's very fair and I usually don't have a problem turning over source tapes to my clients. The best solution, as mentioned before, is to work it all out before hand so you can accommodate them without putting yourself in a bind.

But at the same time it's exactly the same kind of screwy crap people from every other profession will pull on you, so don't feel to bad about dishing it out to them if necessary. Especially if they are a doctor, lawyer or insurance agent (in which case you should charge them triple and also make them take out insurance in case they are unsatisfied with the product they can just file a claim and not bother you.)
 
Hey Scratch,

I will be moving out west in September after Cinefest here in Ontario. I would like to meet up, maybe get some dvx user meeting together in Vancouver if there isn't one already.

Just a thought.
 
zergtherobot said:
Hey Scratch,

I will be moving out west in September after Cinefest here in Ontario. I would like to meet up, maybe get some dvx user meeting together in Vancouver if there isn't one already.

Just a thought.
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Sounds awesome to me. You can call me Alison. :)
 
Hey I just picked up one of these little Sony portable DVD burners to dump footage to so some of my clients can see all of their footage. I shoot some dance studios and they want to watch all of the footwork. We shoot a warm up session and then the final performance as well as some of the rehearsal and some of them go to nationals just after the final performances of the year and I believe this unit will save me a lot of time delivering them all the footage in a non HI REZ format on dvd. It has a lcd screen built in to preview and can record AVCHD from a Sony AVCHD HDD that can be played back on Blueray. It looks like you should be able to load it up and dump live to it from either DV - SVHS - or Composit. Either way you can dump to it and deliver dvds to a client cheap and quick and in the field if necessary and Its 12 volt. 1 dvd will hold 1 hour dv tape of footage and you can use dual layer as well.

Its the Sony VRD-MC5 which I bought at Costco for $189.0

Like Jokomo said you own it and you can negotiate a buyout price if they want the hi rez footage.

Good luck.
 
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