Using a clip from another movie

S

shill66

Member
Our indie feature is getting its finishing touches. In one scene, a group of kids is watching "Halloween" on television. We see the screen for about five seconds as the camera pans down, and we hear the Halloween music briefly and then a snippet of dialogue both coming from the tv.

What do we need to do to cover our asses?
 
Written premission from the "Halloween" rights holder! That is not going to be cheap. You will not be able find a distibutor for the film without the rights to this clip. If you do not have the $$ I would do a made up scene from a slasher movie and replace it.
 
David G. Smith said:
Written premission from the "Halloween" rights holder!
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Then again, it might be free. John is not a complete jerk. Try to contact him. (I'm assuming he kept the rights and didn't sell them off to a suit with an MBA.)
 
You will also need to get clearance rights from any of the actors in the film as well clear the music rights as well. Each of those can be treated as separate entities. And John may or may not own all exclusive rights -investors, distributors, etc, all may have a stake -

Michael
 
GenJerDan said:
Depends on the contract the actors signed when they made the film.
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It also depends on SAG. I'm pretty sure this film was shot SAG which means SAG rules will apply.
 
Well, every contract I've seen gives the owner of the work all rights forever for any purpose.

Doubt if the house signed a contract, though. ;-)
 
shill66 said:
I've removed the Halloween music from the shot. All else is retained. Any further thoughts?
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If the "dialouge" you referred to is spoken by SAG actors they can and very likely will ask the union to persue wage and penalty issues for not clearing use of thier voices .
Always when someone plans a thing like this use of clips ,
I advise that you have a back up shot of your own showing some generic program even if you have to produce it yourself .
This way you dont get stuck in a corner.
Good Luck
Bruce
 
shill66 said:
My next thought is to re-record the same dialogue myself. That would presumably solve THAT problem at least.
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\yes
you are getting the point
i was riding investigative shot gun on a case concerning slot machines in Las Vegas and munster tv show clips .
although most of the substantive claims were brought by on screen actors
.one womans voice was featured who was not even a regular on the show and she had a running claim for the use of her voice
.I think the penalty is scale times three
.Point is
Produce your own segment which appears on the tv unless you are in editing
If so show as little as possible .
Good Luck
Bruce
 
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