Should I have the rights for my footage or not?

N

Nostalgic

Active member
I am not sure if this is the right place to post it or not.


Please help.

the issue that I have is that I am about to fly out of state to shoot a corporate film.
In the agreement i wrote that the footage is belong to me and no other production company can use this footage.
The company that I will produce the move for, asked to remove that part and write that the footage belong to theme.
I am not sure what is wrong or write about this one and how to go about that.
 
Are they paying for it? If so then they should own it.

Why do you even want to own THEIR corporate video?
 
The thing is that I ma going for a 3 days shooting to produce a 4 min video and with the rest of the footage I will produce more videos in the future.
For now I priced it only for the 4 min video.
So i figured that I should have the footage rights which means only me can edit this footage and no other production house, other wise they could have the footage and have someone ells edit it and I waisted 3 days.
Bottom line they end up agreeing for the terms and they understood where I am coming from.
Isn't the standard for all of you guys here that produce corporate videos?
 
It is standard practice for whomever is paying for a shoot to own all rights to the footage.

Think about it from their side: what happens if you turn out to be flaky, a crappy editor, or (most likely) have a completely different vision of the final product than what they need out of it? They've paid for a shoot, but then have to rely on you later to get their money's worth out of it. That's just a bad business decision to leave that all up to you, without a contract for said later work.

You should get paid for your time, however. Your quote should include adequate compensation for 3 days of shooting, regardless of planned final product. If you are really planning to make a bigger project out of this, then you should spell that out in the contracts ahead of time, too.
 
I think this is both clear and not clear. I guess the copyright and (therefore) all rights to the footage are yours by legal default and that is only superceded by a specific contract signed by you

This is business however and about striking deals - negotiating that contract, I think the 'norm' for most corporate shooting is to hand the footage across and waive all rights

In situations where you might (for example) have significant creative/artistic/directorial input (think higher end projects) a more complex rights agreement could be made

Or if you are working for 'mates rates' or suchlike you could have an expectation of a higher level of rights retention

Also where stock footage is taken - for example a client might want a shot of clouds - it is critical to clarify the rights as there may be a secondary use and potentially fees

It is worth considering your showreel too as you may want to retain a specific right to use the footage for 'self promotion'

I think at the end of the day it comes down to - negotiation - and the fee levels as to the expectation that each party has - your position (reputation) in the industry etc

I think video freelances are setting up a poor situation for themselves when 'all rights assigned' is the default position granted for a measly dayrate

It may be worth researching standard contracts of engagement, joining the appropriate unions and certainly learning the basics of copyright law in your juristiction and also comunicating with your competition to ensure that you are not wildly undercutting them by setting a poor rights/fees ratio

Remember .. that crappy corporate shoot at the bank might involve an interiview with Nick Leeson, or the crappy web start up might be called Facebook, or the lo budget pop video could be for the next chart toppers

Any footage might have a value in the future in terms of news/docos etc

S
 
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Thank you all for the information.
I will definitely research this topic a bit more after this project since it was a last moment thing.
 
you need to be clear with them and in the written contract as this sounds like two different jobs

1. job is acquiring three days worth of footage

2. job is the edit of four minutes.

At the very least you should be compensated for three days of your time and then the footage is theirs. If the edit is done during this time then leave it at 3x your dayrate and they own the footage. If the edit is done after the three days then charge the edit separately as well as charge 3x dayrate for your time.

Anything else you are ripping yourself off and asking them to treat you like a student. If you are doing the job to 'get more work' then the correct way to do it is to invoice them as above as I described and at the end of the invoice you put the percentage discount as a modifyer to bring down the total amount to the get-my-foot-n-the-door price.

This way it is clear to those that hire you what your real price is ... and why they are getting a deal.
 
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