Hi,
In our current indie short film, we would like to use several (?10) short clips of actual television footage ?2 seconds each. The question has come up regarding the legality of our use of these peices of footage? If we refrain from displaying any trademark information (possibly pixelating it out if necessary), are we violating anybody's copyright laws? Do I need to worry about this?
Our operation budget is essentially limited by our personal resources... paying royalties for a 2 second clip seems not only ridiculous to me, but also financially impractical.
Thank you for any information or opinions.
Chris
I know this was posted in oct of '05 but I'm having a similar issue. I want to use a news clip in my next movie. It's from CNN. Do I need permition to use this footage?
"Try not. Do, or do not. There is no try."
"Try not. Do, or do not. There is no try." - Yoda
You need to clear copyright on any third-party material that appears on your film. This includes television footage/audio which is identifiable in the film.
So your best bet would be to contact the broadcaster and find out who owns the copyright in the clips you're using - quite probably not the broadcaster in Chrispe's case, but almost definitely CNN in Shaolin_PHIST's case.
Whether you have to pay for using the footage or not will be a matter of discussion between you and the rights holder.
Ben C.
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Benjamin Craig
Editor-in-Chief, filmmaking.net
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Benjamin Craig
Editor-in-Chief, filmmaking.net
