Basic Q's

Magicmann

Magicmann

Ok, I have a few questions that I'm almost a hundred percent sure has been asked before. Here they are.

  1. Is it a legal issue to have a character in a film wearing a shirt of a real band, or a band poster in the background?
  2. What's the minimum age to apply for a copyright?
  3. If I were to make a character say a reference to a band, and the band name be said, would I have any legal issues?

Thank you for reading, and I may have more!
 
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I've seen a few people here with the same question.

I would assume the same would go for Tshirt, but poster you could definitely have issues. It was suggested(and thanks for reminding me!)that you could get madeup bands and make pictures and posters of them in the background(I said I would send a couple to someone, and completely slipped my mind-it wasn't you, was it? lol)
The other two q's I do not know about-I would think age question would be age of majority or 16 years?

Mentioning a band's name, THAT's an interesting one, it's not written down or has a picture of it-I'd like to hear the answer to this one as well? Would a band go to court saying "you said your name, we want royalties"? (The "visual" stuff I could see)

Edit if it WAS you wanting a couple of pics for "fake" movie and rock posters I can send them ;)
 
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In some cases there won’t be a problem using the image on a shirt
or the poster. However, using these images and/or logos can add to
the E&O insurance costs and could affect the distribution of a
movie. Of course if you are not making a movie for “official”
distribution (by an distribution company) then you won’t have any
problems. The logos and photos are either trademarked and/or
copyrighted so the owner does have the right to decide how these
items are used. But there will be no legal action taken against
you.

http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-who.html#minor

You can have the characters talk about bands.
 
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Thanks Directorik from here as well. I did wonder about that sort of thing, especially "talking" about a band, ect.


All the copyright stuff reminds me of that classic film "Revenge of the Killer Tomatoes", where there is a whole part done with deliberate "advertising" so they can make their movie:D
 
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Free speech is still going strong.

I know, I know, this might start an entire new conversation,
but my point is we can still talk about anything we want in a
movie. The problems arise when we (as filmmakers) want to
use logos, photos and music that has been copyrighted by
someone. Of course the irony is, we want our work to be
protected from unauthorized use. But we often think that
using the copyrighted work of others should be just fine.
 
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Magicmann said:
  1. What's the minimum age to apply for a copyright?

Click to expand...


  1. I have never heard of any age restrictions for registering copyright. I would bet the farm that one could copyright at any age. The only problem might be that to make a contract legal, one must be 18 to sign. But is registering copyright considered a contract? If so, I would think that all you would need would be the signature of a parent or guardian as well (if you are a minor).

    So what were those other questions?
 
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@Tinalera I'm not the one that you were going to send the fake band posters too! But you're more than welcome too! XD And I was 99% sure I couldn't use a band poster, but wanted to be sure, and same with shirts. I wanted my future comedy to include Iron Maiden references, maybe some Pink Floyd.

@Directorik Thanks for the link! And also, do you know if two people can claim works on one production? My friend and I will be writing the screenplay, and doing everything else as a joint effort, and just wanted to know! And as for the age thing, that is truly awesome. Thanks!

@Dreadylocks I'm sorry, I don't have a farm to give you! But as for the signing, I'm sure there's some way of getting that done! And as for the other questions, they've been answered!

@Anyone OK, so I CAN make band name references, such as Pink Floyd, and Iron Maiden. But it'd require rights from whomever holds the rights to the band's works in order to feature a shirt or poster. Too bad if I were to write/e-mail, my request would probably never make their way high enough, and even then, they'd probably want some cash to give me rights to have their posters/shirts. Ok, thanks! Just wanted to know if I could have a zombie wearing a Pink Floyd/Iron Maiden or Metallica shirt... I guess if I truly want that, I'd have to get some cash to grease some palms!
 
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grinner,

You answered "yes" to question 3. What legal issues
would a filmmaker face if a character in a movies makes
a reference to a band and says the bands name?
 
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Sorry. I still don’t understand.

Assuming it doesn’t meet the legal definition of slander ( a
malicious, false and defamatory spoken statement), what legal
issues would a filmmaker face if a character mentions the name of
the band?
 
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Lawsuit from the band or brand if they don't like what was said or the character who said it... even if it wasn't a nagative statement. Background imagery is one thing. Bringing them into dialog is another.
 
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Do you have any examples in the law of this? I'll research
it, of course, but I thought you might already know. I
always thought that a logo would be under copyright or
trademark and that free speech would would be allowed.
Even in a movie. Slander aside, of course.

So you're saying that a writer cannot have characters
speaking about, say, Van Halen, but a filmmaker can show
their logos? So if the copyright or trademark owner of the
bands logo didn't want it seen in the background there is
nothing they could do. But if a character said their name
they could, feasibly, stop that.

Am I understanding correctly?
 
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You are but understand people can sue for anything... even the logo on the wall. Doesn't mean they will win anything but they can sue.
The legality comes from recreating a registered trademark. If you make the poster on the wall, that's illegal. If you buy it, that is their point of sale. Same with neons, the hood orniment on a car, ect. What you can't do is point at that neon or hood orniment and adress it, good, bad, or ugly without permission.
 
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I’m still fuzzy on this. I’ll speak to a lawyer on Tuesday.

I am aware that anyone can sue for anything. That wasn’t what I
was curious about. I know it is against copyright law to use
something under copyright without permission and that logos and
designs are under either copyright or trademark. I wasn’t aware
that there is a law regarding saying the name of a band out loud
in a movie without permission.

I have always thought a character in a movie could talk about a
band (or a product) under the freedom of speech laws.
 
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