Digital Video - March 2008 - (Page 44)

Permissions from all persons shown on camera. With regards to permissions and clearances, it is important to keep in mind the difference between permissions required by law and those required by contract. Example: You may have filmed some people walking in the background on a city street as part of your B-roll footage. Generally, people do not have a right of privacy over noncommercial uses of their images filmed while they are on a public street. As a result, you may not be legally required to get a release from people incidentally shown walking down the sidewalk. However, your production services agreement will almost certainly have a contractual requirement that you obtain a written release from every per- Soundtrack mixing requirements and cue sheets. Specifications for promotional and marketing deliverables. Note: These are often due to the television company prior to the program being delivered. Be sure to stick closely to the exact technical specifications demanded by the television company. That being said, there may be a lot of boilerplate language here, requiring you to deliver such outdated items as 35mm slides when a hi-res JPEG might just as easily do the trick. Be sure to look for, point out, and change any antiquated delivery requirements before you sign the contract. LEGAL Brace yourself: You will have to deliver a legal binder containing all of your talent and crew contracts, releases, permissions, and credit requirements. IT IS IMPORTANT TO KEEP IN MIND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PERMISSIONS REQUIRED BY LAW AND THOSE REQUIRED BY CONTRACT. son photographed and shown in the program. From a practical standpoint, this is unwieldy. The solution? Get your production attorney involved. Have him or her put a call into the legal affairs attorney at the television company and negotiate a waiver of your appearance release requirement for a particular sequence. Failure to do so could possibly result in you being noncompliant with your legal deliverable requirements and delay your final payment. The program must be compliant with the company’s standards and practices policies. Practice tip: Some companies don’t maintain written standards and practices policies, which makes it very hard for the producer to know what it’s agreeing to under this clause. Lien, security, and copyright assignment documents are often required; these forms are usually supplied to the production company by the television company. Publicity restrictions and requirements. The production company is typically restrained from issuing any publicity without the prior written approval of the television company. Representations and warranties: These are statements of fact and promises that one party makes to another with the intention that the other party will rely upon them. Representations and war- ranties are usually coupled with an indemnification clause requiring a party who has misrepresented something to pay the other party’s damages that stem from the misrepresentation. The production company typically reps and warrants that: It has all the rights it is granting, and it will not infringe upon any other rights holder in the making of the production. There is no libelous, defamatory, or obscene material in the program. It will be responsible for all royalties and reuse payments. It has not exhibited the program anywhere else (including festivals) and its first exhibition on the television company’s channel is the program’s premier. Pursuant to federal regulations, the production company has not accepted any money, services, or other compensation in exchange for advertising goods or services in the program (unless it has prior approval from the television company). Of course, your production services agreement will also contain other standard contract clauses, such as notice, arbitration, jurisdiction, force majeure, and much more. Remember, a contract can be amended and changed many times during the course of a production. During the production, if you feel that you will have difficulty meeting a particular requirement, let the television company know as soon as possible. You may be pleasantly surprised to find out how reasonable they can be after all, they want to make the program, too. However, if you wait until delivering your program to let them know that you didn’t comply, payment may be withheld, and you may be faced with a breach-of-contract suit. DV Mr. Crowell concentrates his law practice in the areas of entertainment and intellectual-property law. Portions of this article were taken from Mr. Crowell’s new book The Pocket Lawyer for Filmmakers, published by Focal Press. He may be reached at www.thomascrowell.com. www.dv.com DV DELIVERY REQUIREMENTS Be prepared to adhere to a rather lengthy schedule of technical and legal deliverables. This section specifies: TECHNICAL The length of the program, including where the commercial breaks must occur. Media on which program, elements, and soundtrack must be delivered. 44 dv march 2008 http://www.thomascrowell.com http://www.dv.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Digital Video - March 2008

Digital Video - March 2008 Contents DV Update Q&A Fest Circuit Instant Expert LP-Micro Light Fusion F2 Drive PPFP-3N Bag Ego Digital Imaging Light KE-79CC Boom & Fuzzy Close-Up: Honoring George Spiro Dibie, ASC Food Fight Key Thoughts on Chroma key DV101 Dynamic Duos First Look: A Big Serve Cameras & Courtrooms Ad Index Production Diary

Digital Video - March 2008

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