Copyright & Contracts

This week we spoke about copyright and contracting within creative production teams. Now, rather than go into relentless detail on what is the complicated notion of copyright, I would rather talk about why it is important. Especially within the film industry.

Copyright is basically a defense mechanism that is set to protect your intellectual and creative property. This is absolutely essential within the extremely competitive would of film and TV, where everyone is constantly on the hunt for the next big hit. You have to be careful with your own creative ideas and stories and make sure you are appropriately covered under the law before distributing the idea to anyone. There are too many cases of people that have been cheated and ripped off because they have not took the time to cover themselves or trusted the wrong person. Unfortunately this is just the sort of world we live in.

A great piece of advice given by my lecturer was that as soon as you have your story, slap a copyright symbol right on the cover. By doing so, you will be able to prove if someone has stolen your idea at all. However there will come a time where you may need to remove that particular copyright symbol from your work and sell it to another. With your winning story, a large production company may offer a sum to buy the rights to your work, or maybe that winning story is for a film festival that requires you sign the rights away so they may screen your film. It is in these sorts of contracts that you must read the fine print carefully. As they very well may add something in there that would severely under-credit yourself as the creator.

An interesting note I picked up from this lecture, is looking to bring in proper contracts with my classmates and crew members when beginning a project. To avoid any awkward situations in the event the film does make some money. We would contract to determine how the money is split between the crew. With the majority going towards the member who has spent the most money on the film and also has contributed the most. There have been cases of prize money being won, and the receiver taking the money and disappearing along with the money, leaving their crew mates empty handed.

Contracting and copyrighting are our first lines of defense and back-up when it comes to protecting our own work and ideas. I would hate to see another person profiting off of my achievements or my ideas without any form of my permission.

Aedan Bruitzman

Reference List:

Meme Center. (2015). Copyright claims, Copyright claims everywhere. Retrieved from Meme Center: https://img.memecdn.com/youtube-may-send-me-a-copyright-claim-for-this_o_2702987.jpg

Rosenfeld, A. (2013, March 20). The great copyright battle: UBC’s bold stand against Access Copyright. Retrieved from The Ubyssey: http://old.ubyssey.ca/features/the-great-copyright-battle-ubcs-controversial-stand-against-access-copyright/