Hi there, I just came across this site and finally think that my question might be answered as you all sound very knowledgeable. First of all, apologies if this is a dumb question or something that has been covered a million times in your FAQs, but I have looked and I can't find it!
Right, here it is: I work at an Independent Living Centre, where people with various physical and sensory disabilities come to take classes in subjects such as art, computing, creative expression, gym etc. We have our 10th anniversary coming up and I am going to make a short film showing our participants in class doing the various activities - this film will be shown on the anniversary celebration day to around 200 people. Now, I am wondering about getting permission from the participants for me to film them - would a simple waiver form be sufficient, or do I have to specify when and where I am going to show the film? I have my own film making company - www.lunafish.co.uk - and would like to possibly use clips from the film on my showreel, so do I have to mention this in the forms I give out?
Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!
Getting a standard release from the participants is all you need. Such as release should cover "all media in the Universe". That way, it doesn't matter where you show the film afterwards.
Ben.
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filmmaking.net
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Please note the opinions expressed here are those of the author only and do not constitute legal advice. The author cannot accept and liability whatsoever for inaccurate or outdated information contained within.
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Benjamin Craig
Editor-in-Chief, filmmaking.net
What if you want to film the Disneyland logo at the front of the park. Do you need Disney's permission to do so? I've heard that you don't want to show the Nike logo on a t-shirt and I'm wondering if a location is similar or if this is more like the filming in front of someones house type deal where as long as you aren't saying Disney is populated by serial killers you should be fine.
RJSchwarz
I believe the general rule is that if the location isn't relevant to the movie, then it's OK, but if the location is going to be an important part of the movie then you need permission.
For example, if your characters are walking down the street and just happen to pass a Disney sign, then you're OK, but if you deliberately place them at the Disney sign because you're using it as a specific location in your movie, then you'll be in trouble if you don't get permission.
Similarly, if your serial killer character drives past my house, that's no problem... but if you film them driving up to my house and edit the movie to give the appearance that they live here, then that's a no-no.
Either way, if you can, it's better to get permission. I doubt Disney would give it to you, though.
More specific, what if zombies took over LA and I wanted to cut a montage of a zombie in front of the Magic Mountain sign, another in front of the disney sign, one climbing past the Hollywood sign, maybe a zombie tourist in front of the Manns Chinese theater.
I'm using Disney in this case specifically because people would recognize it but I'm not using Disney as anything more than a famous landmark. It's not making Disney look bad and I'm not using their property.
By your answer this should be no problem, correct?
RJSchwarz
No, you're using them as specific locations, so you'd almost certainly need to ask for permission if you want to distribute the movie. I suspect you'd get permission from the other locations without much trouble, but Disney are likely to be much harder.
The Disney issue is different because the location involves the use of brands and trademarks (filmming outside will result in showing trademarked items). It's probably a very grey area legally, but in this case I'd either get permission, talk to a lawyer, or forget it.
Ben C.
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filmmaking.net
(Incorporating the Internet Filmmaker's FAQ)
Please note the opinions expressed here are those of the author only and do not constitute legal advice. The author cannot accept and liability whatsoever for inaccurate or outdated information contained within.
--
--
Benjamin Craig
Editor-in-Chief, filmmaking.net
