Request for raw footage?

Luke

Luke

Well-known member
I have almost completed a huge job for a national non profit organization(it took almost half a year). Its edited and approved by there communications department and they are very pleased with it. However, they have requested i give all my raw footage to there communications department. This was definitely not in the contract and i don't think its such a good idea. I have heard from numerous people in the past i should never give up my raw footage. Im just trying to figure out what i should say to them. Thanks

Luke
 
If it was not in the contract it or in any way belongs to them then you don't have to hand it over. If you do give it away you risk the potential opportunity for them to hire you in the future to do re-edits.

You could offer to sell them the raw footage. It can be a sticky situation, especially if you think there is potential for future work from this company.
 
It all depends on how valuable the footage is to you. Do they want the raw footage as in tapes or the files ? I don't have a problem giving my customer the raw footage because I generally keep a copy on my computer. My main thing for wanting to keep the footage is that sometimes companies and people loose things and if they want any re-edits it makes things easier. This definitely should have been in the contract. I think if you charged them for the tapes then I would give it if not then I wouldn't.
 
Thank you for the responses. Ok, what i got from the lady im dealing with is that there communications department wants the files because they might want to change something in the future. This does not fly well with me. I know I should have had something in the contract about this but its a learning experience. So, because i shoot the footage with my equipment and on my tapes and have the files on my PC, i don't have to give them any raw files right? The people that were interviewed for the peace have no affiliation to this particular organization whatsoever and they were not paid. I do have the right to say any re-edits are done by me correct? Thanks

Luke
 
Well as far as I understand it. The finished product is there and they can do whatever they wish with it as far as having someone re-edit it but if you didn't charge them for any of the raw footage like tapes mainly then I don't see how they have any right to it. Now like I said you can sit back down to the table with them and work out another agreement in regards to them purchasing the footage from you. Of course I think the rules change if you were shooting something like their people working or a wedding or something
 
Thank you for all the help. I guess all I can do is talk it out with them. Next time I know what will be mentioned in all my contracts.

Luke
 
Did you ask them if you could give them a DVD or some kind of format with timecode on it? This way they will have a copy of the footage and know exactly what shot they want to use if they need to change something. Just an option.

Thanks and I hope it works out for you,
John Guarino
 
i'm going to disagree with some of the others here. if they hired you to shoot this footage and the cost of equipment (including tape stock) came out of that budget, then they own it.

if you really want to keep the footage, i'd dupe it with matching timecode and hand it over.
 
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Ok, I should have mentioned this earlier but they origonally intended this to be only a 3 month project with X amount of subjecs. In a nut shell thats what the contract called for. But they ended up adding much more material than origonaly agreed on. I could not charge any more for the extras because the grant money they received to do the project was all gone.(Which was not allot to begin with). This is a very large non profit organization so instead of saying no i bite the bullet and went along with it knowing that the project would be good for my resume. Well they got an extra three months (no charge)out of me witch is fine with me but within those extra three months they were not very nice at all. When I told them I couldn't work on the project for a few days because i had to do another job(a paying job mind you) they actually got angry. They may be a non profit orginization but i've gota live. Maybe this is what i get for being overly generous. But this is where I feel like I've gotta put my foot down. This raw footage is mine and if they want a re edit down the road, they will have to come up with some grant money. Hm, I just answered my own question.

Luke
 
i'm sure you feel taken advantage of by them. thus, the feeling that you have been "overly generous" and need to "put your foot down". but i don't think the circumstances you describe change the fact that they own the materials you were hired to shoot and edit. in my line of work, i produce/edit featurettes for DVD and EPK. all my clients, from Univeral to Lion's Gate, own the footage they hire me to acquire, as well as, the featurettes i cut with it. that's standard operating procedure.

i'm curious why you and others here feel this non-profit shouldn't expect to own the footage they hired you to capture?

and why not just dupe all the tapes? what are they, mini dv? do it digitally and no one will be the wiser. then, send them the tapes and include an invoice for all the extra time you put in on this project. but instead of charges, write 'gratis'. this will show in no uncertain terms all the work you did above and beyond for them. i'd also include a nicely worded letter explaining the purpose of the invoice and how you look forward to "working with them again", blah, blah, blah.
 
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