legalities of adds in short

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mino

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Hi

I am starting to draft the script for my first short. It is a piece about how much advertising information our brains consume in any given day. My question is on the legalities of using real ads ie captured from TV radio and various print media. I would think it was a copyright issue but then I think... Hell!... I'm just helping them out by spreading the word. Can anyone in the know give me the final word on this.

Thanks
 
Re: legalities of adds in short

davids right.. your on a fast track to getting sued when you start assuming that people wont mind if you use their televised material for your own private agenda.
 
Re: legalities of adds in short

Of course your right...What was I thinking!!
I guesse I sort of assumed that most ads were so in your face with stupidity they couldn't help but be classified as "freeware".
Thanks for the advice
 
Re: legalities of adds in short

1. not just a lawyer, an entertainment attourney

2. do you portray the ads in a positive light or a negative light? if its the latter, you can forget getting permission to use something well known
 
Re: legalities of adds in short

I'm not entirely sure how my brain is wired even after forty some odd years of investigatio. It will probably be revealed to me on my deathbed when my entire life flashes before my eyes. i do know however that some switch in my brain seems to be fused shut on the subject of advertising. I HATE advertising if for no other reason than it's always aimed at the part of me I sit on. I could never portray it in a positive light. Since I first posted this question I have decided to parody some of the more annoying adds closely. It will mean more work but less legal hassles. Thanks again for your input.
 
Re: legalities of adds in short

Thanks for the link Hans...I'll check em out ;)
 
Re: legalities of adds in short

[quote author=mino link=board=writing;num=1097040130;start=0#0 date=10/05/04 at 22:22:10]Hi

I am starting to draft the script for my first short. It is a piece about how much advertising information our brains consume in any given day. My question is on the legalities of using real ads ie captured from TV radio and various print media. I would think it was a copyright issue but then I think... Hell!... I'm just helping them out by spreading the word. Can anyone in the know give me the final word on this.

Thanks[/quote]If you're making a documentary about advertising, you may have a very good fair use and First Amendment argument--consult an entertainment attorney about this. If it's a fiction piece, fair use might still apply, but it's a bit less solid. "Helping them out by spreading the word" is not a defense to copyright infringement or disparagement of a trademark, BTW.

However, the problem with fair use is that it's a defense for use in court, not a shield against lawsuits. So if you're raising it, that means you're already being sued. Not a good position to be in.

The safest thing to do is make up ads for your film using phony products. You can still get your point across, without infringing the copyrighted ads or disparaging trademarked products.

I'd strongly recommend you go spend a few hundred bucks on an entertainment (or copyright and trademark) lawyer. When I was practicing, I'd tell my clients that a few hundred bucks spent on a lawyer up front could save you tens or hundreds of thousands later just by keeping you out of trouble.

Aureliano
 
Re: legalities of adds in short

Thanks Aureliano. I don't have the money to mess with lawyers at this point in time so I'm going to parody existing commercials using their formula without comming close enough to get stung :)
 
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