Do you turn over ALL your material to the client?

Sean Michael

Sean Michael

Well-known member
Suppose you have contracted with a client to produce a video. You do it all -- script, shoot, edit, etc.

You finish the video and everybody's happy with the completed product.

Then the client asks you to ALSO turn over ALL of your footage (all B-Roll, etc.) in addition to the finished product. This was never discussed beforehand.

Do you do it?

Do you charge extra for it?

Or do you refuse?

Just curious what the accepted practices might be...
 
Last edited:
Never been asked for that. Normally it's a case of you finish the delivered video, and then occasionally they come back asking for more copies, which you charge to duplicate.
 
What do you mean by "turn-over? Does that mean give them a copy? Give them the original whike you retain a copy, or give them the original and you retain nothing?

I'd do it if the contract calls for it. And I'd charge them more for each level of what I just said. In most cases I'd just brush it off.
 
I assume your contract spells out who retains copyrights to the original footage? If so, then I don't see a problem with turning it over. If they get the rights, then it's theirs. If you retain rights, then they can't use any of it legally without getting your permission.
 
I give it all back if they ask for it, mainly because if it gets lost or damaged, I don't want the liability. If they paid for the production, they own it. Often times, you (or the "agency") will vault it for the client, especially if there is the chance for future versions. But if they move on, so does their stuff. If, like Starshine, you have a contract that spells out different details, then that dictates, but the standard in 4A advertising says that whatever the client pays for, they own (including ideas).
 
Does the contract give them alteration rights? If not, it wouldn't do them any good. Otherwise, I'd do it, but I'd be cautious and ask what they plan to use it for, since bad editing and presentation could make me look bad. If that's not a concern, though, there's no problem.

I've been asked for that before, but never after the project ended.
 
They rarely ask for it to be honest because they just want the finished project, and we work on that until we get it how they want it, so it's basically marketing collateral for them, I mean it serves a specific purpose and that's more or less it.

That being said, despite it not specifically saying so in any contract, I consider the footage THEIR property! I shot it, with my company I mean, and hired my contractors to do the project, but they commissioned the project, it's all shot in their locations usually, and with their employees or clients or whatever, and in my mind the footage always belongs to them. I just happen to keep their footage anyway, even if they don't want it, I will hold onto it for some time so if the video needs a re-edit I'll be able to offer that as well. It's really not that big of a deal now days to keep a project and all its footage when it's between 25 and 60 gigs. Overall, it's not a large price to pay to store that data, at least for a few years. Then you can purge it.
 
cyclone said:
... If they paid for the production, they own it. ... If, like Starshine, you have a contract that spells out different details, then that dictates, but the standard in 4A advertising says that whatever the client pays for, they own (including ideas).
Click to expand...

They don't necessarily own the raw materials, nor do they automatically own the copyright even when they paid for the production. What a client gets in exchange for the fee they give you is a copy of the completed program in the form of the deliverables contracted for and a license to use it for the agreed-upon purposes. Copyright and ownership of the raw materials used in the production would normally remain the property of the production's creator unless the contract with the client spells out a different arrangement.
 
Not to seem clueless....but are copyright and ownership laws the same in Canada as they are in the US?
 
Vince K said:
Not to seem clueless....but are copyright and ownership laws the same in Canada as they are in the US?
Click to expand...
Not exactly but AFAIK they're very similar. The differences are, for example, here in Canada there is an exception listed in the law so that a portrait photographer does not own the copyright on the portraits he makes but rather the client commisioning the picture does. In the US, the photographer owns the copyright unless he signs it over to the client in writing. But other than a few exceptions like that, I believe they're very close.
 
A client asked once, citing "just wanted to have something on record". I brushed it off and suggested some WIP pieces that the client didn't end up using.
 
I'm not allowed to keep or use any of the footage I shoot/edit for the high school I work for. I used to bring over my macbook setup when we switched from avid to FCP, but since the school bought their own mac editing station, I have to use that.

It's not really exciting for my reel anyways.
 
RockmanX3 said:
I'm not allowed to keep or use any of the footage I shoot/edit for the high school I work for. I used to bring over my macbook setup when we switched from avid to FCP, but since the school bought their own mac editing station, I have to use that.

It's not really exciting for my reel anyways.
Click to expand...

Are you a bona fide employee of the school, tasked as part of your job to shoot video? If so, then your status as a W-2 employee clearly makes the video you shoot in the course of your duties a "work for hire" and the school owns it lock, stock, and barrel. But if you're an independent contractor then ownership would normally fall to you unless you have a written agreement to the contrary.
 
Last edited:
Steve House said:
Are you a bona fide employee of the school, tasked as part of your job to shoot video? If so, then your status as a W-2 employee clearly makes the video you shoot in the course of your duties a "work for hire" and the school owns it lock, stock, and barrel. But if you're an independent contractor then ownership would normally fall to you unless you have a written agreement to the contrary.
Click to expand...

There is another reason that may be in play here. The issue of minors. The schools are duty-bound to protect their students and as a blanket policy, they take possession of all footage shot at their request. This is to prevent any un-authorized taping or release of footage. What he shoots may not be objectionable, but they may have had a situation in the past or are using good prudence for the future.

Either way, though, the school is well within it's rights. There was a student here a while back upset that the school confiscated his footage (shot on school grounds with school equipment). His argument was "it was his creative work". Well, it didn't get him far.

Steve is correct, in that, if it was a "work for hire", your name would be attached to the copyright, but not as the owner of the copyright.
 
As a production studio, I own the footage. I'll certainly give the client copies of the footage. But I have the rights to the master footage. Unless we've discussed this very topic before hand.
 
Doc Bernard said:
There is another reason that may be in play here. The issue of minors. The schools are duty-bound to protect their students and as a blanket policy, they take possession of all footage shot at their request. This is to prevent any un-authorized taping or release of footage. What he shoots may not be objectionable, but they may have had a situation in the past or are using good prudence for the future.

Either way, though, the school is well within it's rights. There was a student here a while back upset that the school confiscated his footage (shot on school grounds with school equipment). His argument was "it was his creative work". Well, it didn't get him far.

Steve is correct, in that, if it was a "work for hire", your name would be attached to the copyright, but not as the owner of the copyright.
Click to expand...

It may be the school's "policy" but that doesn't mean it has the legal right to enforce the policy should the contractor not wish to voluntarily comply. In the case of a student shooting on school property with school equipment, it's different matter entirely and the school may be have the legal right to enforce the policy. But the rights it may or may not have over the work of an adult contractor can be quite different from any rights it has to work produced by a student in the course of his studies.

His name wouldn't be attached to the copyright when it is a work-for-hire although the copyright owner may grant credit at his discretion. The cameraman in a TV station doesn't have any copyright interest in the broadcasts he shoots.
 
I would just as soon they take ownership of the materials once a project is finished. It reduces my liability and frees my hard drives. If I did a good job they are coming back to me anyway.

By turning over the materials I am being completely transparent. The client will respect the honesty.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top