Release Forms

Started by Ravi, June 06, 2007, 02:33:29 PM

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Ravi

I found these websites with sample release forms.  What do you guys think?  Do they cover everything?

http://www.videouniversity.com/releases.htm

http://www.stormforcepictures.com/preproduction-legalmumbojumbo.php

Captain of Industry

Did you end up using these?  Are they sufficient?  Do people answer questions here?

Because I have two follow up questions, which if anyone can help me with it'd be greatly appreciated:

1.  So what's the deal with licensing covers?  Because it's different than licensing the original song, right, but does anyone know the process?  I'd like to have a man on an electronic keyboard playing the Beatle's Lucy in the Sky in a short I want to shoot soon...and it's the Beatles, but it's a man on a keyboard.  Does anyone know how that works?

2.  If I use a movie poster, for example, I know I'll have to pay to use it.  If I use a book cover, is it the same thing?  Or would it likely be an issue only if the cover features artwork?

If anyone knows.  Thanks.

matt35mm

Quote from: Captain of Industry on March 25, 2010, 01:48:04 PM
Did you end up using these?  Are they sufficient?  Do people answer questions here?

Because I have two follow up questions, which if anyone can help me with it'd be greatly appreciated:

1.  So what's the deal with licensing covers?  Because it's different than licensing the original song, right, but does anyone know the process?  I'd like to have a man on an electronic keyboard playing the Beatle's Lucy in the Sky in a short I want to shoot soon...and it's the Beatles, but it's a man on a keyboard.  Does anyone know how that works?

2.  If I use a movie poster, for example, I know I'll have to pay to use it.  If I use a book cover, is it the same thing?  Or would it likely be an issue only if the cover features artwork?

If anyone knows.  Thanks.

1. There are two licenses that exist for music--one is for the intellectual property of the song (the lyrics and melody), and the other is for the actual recording itself.  These are two separate licenses, such that if you wanted to specifically use the recording of a song as it is on the original album, you would have to get both licenses in order to put it in your movie.  If you want to want to have someone covering it, then you only legally need the one license that covers the intellectual property of the song.  You'll have to find who owns the rights and they will have to approve.  It may or may not be all that difficult to get that approval, depending on how you plan to screen the movie.  It would be very expensive if you wanted to widely distribute the movie for profit, but there are often film-festival-specific deals that are cheaper and easier to set up--the form may already exist in a non-negotiable deal that you would sign and pay the fee for.

2. This might fall under fair use, actually.  I'm not sure.

Captain of Industry

Gracias, sir.

Probably scrap Lucy in the Sky.

matt35mm

If you intend on having it screened in any way that will bring legal scrutiny upon the film, that might be wisest, especially if you're not dead set on it.