I was wondering what precautions need to be taken when filming when it comes to actual products being on the screen. Do you have to get an OK from every product that may be on screen? I don't understand how it would work, though. I doubt people have to get the OK for the clothes an actor wears or the couch they sit on, but I see labels get blurred out every so often or a movie uses made up brands, I assume so they don't have to go through the trouble of getting the OK to show real products.
So what type of products do you need to get permission to show and what exceptions exist. I mean say there was a very recognizeable package such as an Aunt Jamima bottle of syrup. Is it enough to just block out the name, even though most people would still know what it is a bottle of?
Or if you could point me in the direction of a place that would enlighten me on this subject.
Thanks.
I contacted a communication law professional about this when I started my first feature. You can show anything you want. The reason things are blurred out on TV is because they can get advertising money for the items they don't blur out and they certainly don't want to give nonpaying companies the same exposure.
If you mention a product in a negative way, you might need to be more careful (it has to be either truth or opinion).
I was wondering if that may be one of the reasons some products get blurred. So this is something you mainly will have to worry about if you seek out money from a real life company to show their products on the condition that you will not show any of their competitors.
Thanks for the response.
If the product is used in an incidental way, then it's generally not an issue. But if the product is featured in any way, and you are looking to get distribution for the film, you will need to get a clearance from the product owner. Without it, some distributors will refuse to take on the film, particularly if there's any negativity in how the product is portrayed (bear in mind that your perception of what constitutes negativity may be different to that of the product owner).
You should also check local rules as in some countries additional restrictions apply to the display of products in TV programmes (e.g. in the European Union).
Ben.
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Benjamin Craig
Editor-in-Chief, filmmaking.net
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Benjamin Craig
Editor-in-Chief, filmmaking.net
