Using logos and brands without concent...

DavidG

DavidG

Active member
I know this has probably been touched on several times before, but couldnt find anything when searching, if i were to use a logo in a commercial film, i.e logo on a watch close up, coke can etc, what would the worst scenario be? is it illegal, im sure you guys out there have never used a prop for every single possible commercial product featred in your films..

Thanks. DGG.
 
Well - it makes it harder for you to sell it, because if you have uncleared copyrighted material in your movie then any potential buyer is either going to have to take all that work on (which is coming out of whatever you're getting for you movie, by the way) - or is going to tell you that they might be interested as soon as you have all the legal rights cleared. I've seen more than one indie movie whither on the vine while people waited to work out legal clearance issues. There is no way around it - everything in every distributed film gets cleared by someone at some point. So you can ignore it now - and deal with it later...or you could just avoid the entire situation by making sure you don't include anything in the frame (and the soundtrack) that you don't have the rights to.

Seeing as the odds of selling a film are so slim to begin with, I wouldn't do anything to make it even harder.

And it's not necessarily an issue of using a 'prop' in place of commercial products - but keeping logos/lettering/brands out of the frame.
For example - watch most indie movies and you'll notice pretty much everyone just happens to drink things with the label facing away from the camera.
:thumbsup:
 
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Because they are idiots. And they will continue to do that until they lose enough business by being idiots.

Trade Marks are fair game.

Copyright things are not.

You might be able to find a Trade Mark somewhere that is also copyrighted (probably through its artwork), but I've never seen one with a copyright notice.

"Copyright does not protect names, titles, slogans, or short phrases. In some cases, these things may be protected as trademarks. Contact the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, 800-786-9199, for further information. However, copyright protection may be available for logo artwork that contains sufficient authorship. In some circumstances, an artistic logo may also be protected as a trademark."
 
Just to mix things up a bit, what if for example you had a car a ford, chevy what ever in your movie, and your lead character is driving this said car, does that not costitute as branding if you can see the make of the car as a character climbs out of the car?
 
You might be surprised at the response you get if you try to clear it before hand. Many companies are more than willing to place products in your film. I had friends that needed a Mountain Dew in the story and Coke or Pepsi (I can't remember who does Mt Dew) not only gave them permission but sent them cases of drinks for the shoot. They'll want time to look at the project but it can be worth it.
 
Darkeyesuk2000 said:
Just to mix things up a bit, what if for example you had a car a ford, chevy what ever in your movie, and your lead character is driving this said car, does that not costitute as branding if you can see the make of the car as a character climbs out of the car?
Click to expand...

Sure it does.

You shouldn't have to worry about trademarks...

And worrying too much about copyrights will make you crazy. Strictly speaking, your actors can't wear clothing or enter furnished rooms because of copyrighted designs.

While that might make for the occasional interesting film, remember Roseanne Barr has not retired.
 
Trademarks and Copyrights, generally have no bearing until MONEY CHANGES HANDS. If the prop is blended into the scene most is over-looked, however when the item becomes a center piece, IP attorneys come out the wall.

Generally, 1st tier product line, house-hold or Industry standard, is not used
in degrading fashion, you can obtain permission. Remember they are also
looking for creative ways to merchandise their product.
 
All of the above just underlines the point that exactly what crosses the line is a little gray. Certainly a scene with a lot of cars does not require clearance on every make going by. Anything that ends up being featured does need clearance. Some things that are not "products" ie the Transamerica Pyramid building in SF needs clearance, in certain cases. If you panning the skyline no, if you have someone going in yes. You can show trademarks but they can't be important to the story, featured in any way or shown in a bad light. That gets pretty interpretive. You don't want to end up arguing interpretation with corporate lawyers, they get paid better and argue better. So while you may not need a clearance for X your on shaky ground if you don't have one. It's a little like gorilla crowd scenes, you can probably get away with it but it only takes one law suit to ruin your whole film.
 
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