Do you give the project file to your client?

[xha8]

Hi all,

I'm curious to hear some inputs from you guys. Do you give your project file(s) (Premiere CS, AfterEffects, Vegas, etc.. project file) to your client if he/she asked? If you do, would you charge for that?

 

[Stephen Mick]

Yes.

I always give them the Final Cut project file and all associated assets when the project is finished. (Actually, it's usually a few months after the project is finished, just in case they have any after-the-fact changes.)

And I don't charge them for it. It's their job. They're already paid for my editing services. The data is theirs to do what they want with.

 

[Peter Reynolds]

No. I keep the project files (as associated assets) on a separate hard drive.

Now, my clients have never asked me for the project files. If they did, I would provide them.
This is not old-school photography where they give you the prints but keep the negatives.
Like Steven said, they've paid for your services, so the data is theirs.

I would however, caution on offering the files. If you have them, it's easier for the
client to call you for changes, additions etc. If there's a new video project, you also
have the lower-thirds, bumpers, graphics, etc already done, so the cost would be cheaper.

If they have the project/master files, it might be just as easy for them to go with
someone else, or have a staff member try to do it. You want to avoid this.

Again, don't deny them the files if they ask, but don't offer either. You want to be there
go-to-guy (or girl) for all things video.

P.

 

[Stephen Mick]

Peter has a point, certainly. For me, it comes down to what kind of relationship you have with your clients.

I provide them with all the materials for two reasons. One, even though I keep dual backups in-house (and one off-site), it's good to have an additional backup out there, and the client is the natural one to keep it. Second, sending them the project files allows me to once again remind them that the archiving (and keep-safe) service is just another added value benefit of having me work on their projects. Clients like knowing that their data is as safe as it could possibly (within reasonable cost) be.

If they feel they want to try to save money by doing something in-house, that's their business. Who am I to make that more difficult (or impossible)? They've paid for the service, the materials belong to them.

And please Peter, do NOT take this as a swipe at you. It's not. But I have heard many others give the same advice about not sharing or volunteering files to the client. My attitude is if a client can find someone who can do it as good as I can (or better), and for less money, then they should, and perhaps I need to look at my level of service and price for future jobs. And if they can find someone to do a "good enough" job, then perhaps they're not a client I want a long-term relationship with anyway.

This hasn't happened yet.

 

[Paul Hudson]

If they ask, they are theirs.

 

[xha8]

Thank you for all of the replies. I'm very appreciated.

 

[milksac]

Don't give away the project files.

They've paid for the service, the materials belong to them.

Intellectual property laws say otherwise. The original footage and the finished work belong to the client. The project files used to create the work belong to the production company. The deliverables are usually spelled out clearly in the contract. If the client decides at the start of the project that they wish to retain all the project files then the budget should be adjusted accordingly.

 

[xha8]

How about the plugin that you might have used in the project? Will that be any problem for your client? and maybe the version of the host application?

 

[Stephen Mick]

The deliverables are usually spelled out clearly in the contract.

Everything should be spelled out in the contract, yes.

In my case, long-term storage and client receipt of all project files are part of that contract.

 

[Cassius]

Just because the law says you have the right to keep the project files for yourself isn't good enough reason to do so. I've never been asked, especially since I work in the consumer market, but I can't imagine how it would hurt to let them recut if they want. Short of costing me some potential editing work, but I don't like editing anyway and the client relationship (which leads to more jobs) more than makes up for it.

 

[Steve House]

Don't give away the project files.

Quote: Originally Posted by Stephen Mick They've paid for the service, the materials belong to them.

Intellectual property laws say otherwise. The original footage and the finished work belong to the client. The project files used to create the work belong to the production company. The deliverables are usually spelled out clearly in the contract. If the client decides at the start of the project that they wish to retain all the project files then the budget should be adjusted accordingly.

Assuming that the production is not being done by a defacto employee of the client firm, ie, the production contract is not explicitly stated to be a 'work-for-hire' agreement, both the original source material and the final program belong to the videographer / production company. The fact that you are paid to make a program for the client does not mean you are automatically their employee or that the client owns the intellectual property you create or the copyright to it. The content of the source files is the intellectual property of its creator and the camera media - tapes, cards, etc - is merely the carriage vehicle for that property. If the client has paid for the blank media you used, he owns the media itself but not the materials recorded on it - if he asks for his property all you have to give him is a blank tape. Unless a transfer of ownership of the IP itself is agreed in writing in the contract, the only thing the client actually "owns" at the conclusion of the project is a license to use the finished work in the manner the contract between him and the videographer specifys. Unless there is a written contact to the contrary, all the intellectual property, be it source material or final finished program, belongs to the person creating it, the videographer and it remains with him even after he is paid. Now if you choose to offer to transfer your property to your client as a value-added service or routinely as part of your normal business practices, that's up to you. But it isn't automatic and a blanket statement that the client owns the source material and/or the final program simply because they paid to have it produced is simply untrue - unless there's a writing to the contrary transferring ownership or it was created under an explicit work-for-hire agreement, he doesn't.

 

[JonathanLB]

No. I keep the project files (as associated assets) on a separate hard drive.

Now, my clients have never asked me for the project files. If they did, I would provide them.
This is not old-school photography where they give you the prints but keep the negatives.
Like Steven said, they've paid for your services, so the data is theirs.

I would however, caution on offering the files. If you have them, it's easier for the
client to call you for changes, additions etc. If there's a new video project, you also
have the lower-thirds, bumpers, graphics, etc already done, so the cost would be cheaper.

If they have the project/master files, it might be just as easy for them to go with
someone else, or have a staff member try to do it. You want to avoid this.

Again, don't deny them the files if they ask, but don't offer either. You want to be there
go-to-guy (or girl) for all things video.

P.

I agree with this. I don't offer because my clients really wouldn't know what a Final Cut even is let alone a project file But I give them the full quality MOV file at the end of the project, that's what they get, not the original footage and not the project files. They just get the finished product. Now if they ask? I don't care, it's their stuff, I'm happy to hand it over. But I can send the final project file on a DVD, I can't send all of the raw footage on a DVD, so then they need to pay me for shipping on a hard drive and provide one, etc. That's a pretty big pain in the butt so... no, I don't offer. They can ask, though. They really don't care, it's marketing materials, they just want to get it out there.

 

[Steve House]

... They're already paid for my editing services. The data is theirs to do what they want with.

...This is not old-school photography where they give you the prints but keep the negatives.
Like Steven said, they've paid for your services, so the data is theirs.

....

It isn't old-school photography but it is old-school copyright law. The ownership of a piece of intellectual property is essentially the ownership of the copyright to it. Under the law, the copyright belongs to the person who actually creates the content and fixes it into tangible form. Unless the videographer is an actual employee of the client for whom he is shooting the program or has a written contract stateing that the work produced is a 'work-for-hire' and explicitly transferring copyright (and it must be in writing and it must use the exact words 'work-for-hire'), that person is the videographer. If you're hired to shoot b-roll under direction, turning over the raw footage to the production company, the producer or director you're working for is the legal creator of the content and they own it. But if you're an independent contractor, engaged by a client to make a training video or to cover an annual meeting or make a television spot, etc, you are the creator of the content and the copyright belongs to you unless you transfer it in writing to your client. You statement that the data is their's by virtue of your having been paid is totally incorrect. You might feel that you should give it to them in exchange for your fee and you're welcome to do so - you might even choose to routinely include it as one of the deliverables in your contracts as a marketing incentive for potential clients to engage your services - but unless and until you transfer copyright in writing, it does not belong to them, the data belongs to you.

I'ver never understood why event and wedding videographers are so eager to abandon the only thing their hard work produces that actually has economic value, the copyright to the intellectual property they create.