Permissions?

[richmondfloyd]

Hi,

I filmed a short corporate production recently which included interviews from members of the local community.

It was queried wether I had written permission from each of the people I interviewed. I do not. I have never sought permission from those I film before, however, do I need to seek permissions to release the video? What about the Cafe's I filmed in?

Also, to complicate matters. I am still working F/T for the company I produced the video for (my video production company is still P/T, but will be my full time profession shortly). Am I able to use the video for my own promotion?

Thanks

Olly Lawer

 

[Steve House]

Hi,

I filmed a short corporate production recently which included interviews from members of the local community.

It was queried wether I had written permission from each of the people I interviewed. I do not. I have never sought permission from those I film before, however, do I need to seek permissions to release the video? What about the Cafe's I filmed in?

Also, to complicate matters. I am still working F/T for the company I produced the video for (my video production company is still P/T, but will be my full time profession shortly). Am I able to use the video for my own promotion?

Thanks

Olly Lawer

You need to have a model release from everyone who appears on-camera in your video and is recognizable (ie, you need a release from the person you're interviewing but you don't need to bother with one from the guy walking away from you a block away). It doesn't have to be written - it's common practice in newsgathering to record a verbal release on-camera from the subject either before or after the interview but your employer migt choose to be more strict. You should obtain a property release from every location when you're shooting on private property, ie, if the audience can recognize the location as a Starbucks (logo on the wall etc) you ought to get a release from Starbucks management. Related to that, but not the same thing as a property release, is you ought to obtain permission in advance to shoot at any location that's on private property, otherwise you are at risk of a charge of trespassing. The fact that you are welcome to enter a restaurant to purchase a meal doesn't mean you have some sort of implied permission to do anything else like shoot a video while you're there.

If you made the video as a an employee as part of your job, it is a work-for-hire and your employer owns it. You would need to have their permission for you to use it for any of your own purposes, including self-promotion.

 

[richmondfloyd]

You need to have a model release from everyone who appears on-camera in your video and is recognizable (ie, you need a release from the person you're interviewing but you don't need to bother with one from the guy walking away from you a block away). It doesn't have to be written - it's common practice in newsgathering to record a verbal release on-camera from the subject either before or after the interview but your employer migt choose to be more strict. You should obtain a property release from every location when you're shooting on private property, ie, if the audience can recognize the location as a Starbucks (logo on the wall etc) you ought to get a release from Starbucks management. Related to that, but not the same thing as a property release, is you ought to obtain permission in advance to shoot at any location that's on private property, otherwise you are at risk of a charge of trespassing. The fact that you are welcome to enter a restaurant to purchase a meal doesn't mean you have some sort of implied permission to do anything else like shoot a video while you're there.

If you made the video as a an employee as part of your job, it is a work-for-hire and your employer owns it. You would need to have their permission for you to use it for any of your own purposes, including self-promotion.

Thanks for your reply. OK - so bar going back and getting a signed release or to camera permission from all 20 interviewee's, I cannot get all the permissions. What is the consequences if I haven't got a release and I promote the video? I am assuming people who have agreed to be filmed (all be it not captured on film) would be happy it being used for the purpose intended or they would not of agreed to give the interview. I filmed an event recently and it would of been impossible to collect all those recognisable.

Also, does a permission allow me creative freedom. I often cut about what people say to make it more concise.

 

[Steve House]

Thanks for your reply. OK - so bar going back and getting a signed release or to camera permission from all 20 interviewee's, I cannot get all the permissions. What is the consequences if I haven't got a release and I promote the video? I am assuming people who have agreed to be filmed (all be it not captured on film) would be happy it being used for the purpose intended or they would not of agreed to give the interview. I filmed an event recently and it would of been impossible to collect all those recognisable.

Also, does a permission allow me creative freedom. I often cut about what people say to make it more concise.

Not sure what you mean by "promote your video." You seemed to say before that you made it at the request of your regular employer - if that's the case, it's not your video, it's their's. One can presume they want to use it for something, otherwise they woud'nt have asked you to make it. So what do they want to do with it? The need for releases is far more important if they want to use it for marketing their product in a national TV ad or use the interviews as testimonials in a broadcast infomercial than if they want to use it for an internal employee relations piece.

Releases do allow for creative freedom, depending on how they're worded and how detailed they need to be depends in part on what you're using it for. If it's a steeter on a topic of the day, a simple recorded "Can I ask you a few questions about your experience on the subway today" is all you need. If the person is giving a testimonial for a product that will be used in a national TV ad it better be in writing and fairly detailed. If it's interviewing naked people in the jacuzzi at an swinger's club for the Playboy Channel it better be in writing and cover ALL the bases a lawyer could dream up. Understand that a release is intended to protect you and/or your client from a lawsuit if the person being filmed isn't happy with how they're represented or what you have used their image for. There's no law that says you MUST have a release but you're going to find that if you don't have them, clients and distributors are not going to touch your videos with an 11-foot pole so your chances of sucessfully doing anything productive with them drops through the floor.

Thje rule of thumb is that if you plan to use the material for commercial purposes, and that's pretty broadly defined, you need to have a release from everyone who is recognizable. If you don't, film festivals, broadcast networks, theatrical distributors, dvd distributors, etc just won't touch it, protectingt themselves from possible lawsuit. News coverage is a big exception but interviews at a corporate event aren't news unless you just happen to have footage of a British Petroleum stockholder spokesman demanding the head of BP's CEO on a pike.