Gordon Firemark is an attorney whose practice is devoted to the representation of artists, writers, producers and directors in the fields of theater, film, television, and music.
His practice also covers intellectual property, cyberspace, new media and business/corporate matters for clients in the entertainment industry.
This is the first
live, call-in podcast to clear the air on legal
issues for filmmakers and videographers who are
looking for answers to questions related to starting
a production business, copyright issues, contracts,
intellectual property and distribution.
Questions
answered:
Thom asks: One of the services that my multimedia
production company does is to convert people's records
and tapes to CD. My question is: is this legal? We're
not mass producing duplications, we are only making on
CD for each LP or Cassette. I want to start
advertising this service heavily, but I first want to
make sure that what we're doing is ok.
Charles asks: Hello, and thanks for helping me out.
I have just recently landed a job with a company that
wants me to produce a video for DVD to be distributed
to prospective clients, and also to produce a web
video for multiple websites. I am new to corporate
video, and I have many questions on this.
- Will I have to see a lawyer to get a contract for
this job?
- Will a lawyer have to review the video, and will I
have to do any citation within the video?
- What is a normal and customary charge for this type
of video?
Any other help from anyone with experience in shooting
these types of video would be greatly appreciated.
Brad asks: I've just started a video production
business a few months ago and am trying to tie up all
my legal loose ends. Up until this point the issue of
ownership has not come up with my corporate clients.
They have been happy with me providing them with a
finished product they can upload to their website. I
am however working with a new client that is insisting
on copyright ownership over the video I am making for
them. I don't have an issue with this as I have
already made it clear to them that I would increase my
price to reflect my time spent creating the video and
the transfer of ownership.
Are there any templates of copyright transfers that
I could take a look at and see if I could work it into
my contract?
Len
asks:
My small video production business contracted with a
local high school Band Booster fundraising
organization to produce & sell DVDs of their high
school band performances. I will place my own
copyright label on the DVD, but are there any
third-party copyright or
intellectual property issues I should be concerned
about? Thank you.
Chris
asks: You have an idea you want to pitch to a
production company; how do you safeguard your
concept?
- There's a
painting in the background of your independent film;
is it necessary to clear the rights?
- The screenplay you and a friend wrote gets
optioned; how do you split the proceeds fairly?
- How do you get a script to popular Hollywood
actors or deal with their agents?
Gordon Firemark is an attorney whose practice is devoted to the representation of artists, writers, producers and directors in the fields of theater, film, television, and music.
Thom asks: One of the services that my multimedia
production company does is to convert people's records
and tapes to CD. My question is: is this legal? We're
not mass producing duplications, we are only making on
CD for each LP or Cassette. I want to start
advertising this service heavily, but I first want to
make sure that what we're doing is ok.
