who owns the footage?

S

SydWoodward

Member
Ok, i had a "friend" working with me on a project. No funds were involved, and it was discussed that at this point in the project, no one was getting paid, including myself.

Due to the actions on the person on set, and with other crew on the project, we had to cut ties him him.

Now hear is the question.

Who owns the footage that he captured.

He was:
-using my cameras and tapes.
-knew that there was no payment. I have the rest of our crew who were all there for the conversation when it discussed willing to hold up my side of the story if need be.

I told him he will be credited for all work he did, and sent copys of all footage for use in his reel.


So far i have been told by everyone that i am in the clear, but i thought it may be worth seeing if anyone knows more.


Thanks so much.
 
Well, what is your concern? That he takes it and tries to sell it? Regardless of his behavior on set, you told him you would give him the footage he shot to use in his reel, right? I think you should honour that, but make him sign something stating that while he understands he can use this footage for his reel, he cannot in anyway sell it or use it for profit.

That way, he gets footage to use in his reel (like originally discussed), you have a signed document by him stating that he will not use it and if he does, you have proof if you decide to pursue legal action.

I think that would work, but I'm definitely not a lawyer so take it as you will. Just seems logical to me.

-Kegan
 
he who pays for it owns it.
I try to never pass up the opportunity to compliment a client on their project.
 
If you had a verbal agreement with someone and there were several witnesses then you should be good. You should give him a copy of the footage he shot (you keep the master tape) and be done with it.

He could sue you but with your witnesses to the verbal agreement you'd more than likely win.
 
You are probably joint authors in terms of copyright. You have an intellectual property right issue (copyright) and a physical property right (the actual tapes themselves) issue. If all this is really that important to you you should talk to a real lawyer.

Like Filmman said, it might be best to start over on your own. You might also want to look into Work for Hire agreements. It's always best to have stuff in writing. Once again, you might want to talk to a lawyer.
 
He could sue you but with your witnesses to the verbal agreement you'd more than likely win.
Click to expand...

No No No - If there's a lawyer involved, win becomes a hollow word. Only the lawyer(s) leave whole. It's a lot like being dead right.

Seriously consider (a) getting ownership in writing (pay something for it - consideration is necessary in many types of contract ; or (b) reshooting it - as filmman said, is it worth it???
 
I did stock footage for a director when I was DPing his film a month later I asked if I could use a couple of the aerial shots and he tried to sell them to me at full price.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top