Legal Rights

[Modern Day Myth Prod. LLC]

I was horrified to discover from YouTube that an overseas music label company was claiming rights to the music of my film, I, Creator 2 - Goddess of the Hunt while we were waiting for the US Copyright Office to mail me the copyright certificate. Due to them losing the initial check sent with the application and DVD, they are only acknowledging the copyright is effective from May 2014.

A lawyer told me without the published rights to the film, we could not challenge the label company. If they had rights to music that sounded similar before us, we can lose.

I was advised to get a whole new music score.

So, the extended version of the film was born. It will have an all new music score with new scenes added around existing one and some of the VFx will be redone.

But, finally, now I have the copyright certificate.

The extended version will be entered as a new work with added footage and new music to the old.

It will not go public, until its copyright certificate is returned. My lawyer advised me to keep the new one under wraps until we get the copyright certificate back in case someone else tries to challenge rights to the film.

My music composer did not publish rights either. So, with no published rights while we were challenged, we had to lay low.

Experiences like these teach the best lessons.

 

[WalterB]

Lesson learned:

publish after all rights are yours.

 

[Modern Day Myth Prod. LLC]

Right! WalterB that is the best way to proceed.

I did do something I believe is smart. I had the 22 minute version of the film on the DVD along with all the trailers, artistic commentaries, and promo clips like the one for IMDB on that DVD. So, they are all under the same copyright protection. I did not only copyright the film.

 

[WalterB]

I don't know how it all works in the USA.
But here in Europe copyright naturally comes with creating something original.
Every video I make (that's no infringement) is automaticly copyrighted without registering.
I just need to make sure I obtain the rights to use things like music.

It sounds like you need to register it like a patent. (?)

 

[AudioPostExpert]

A lawyer told me without the published rights to the film, we could not challenge the label company. If they had rights to music that sounded similar before us, we can lose.

This all sounds rather strange to me. As soon as someone composes a piece of music it is their intellectual property. Regardless of when the US Copyright Office acknowledges receipt of your documents, the copyright commences the instant the composition is composed. There is no requirement to register the copyright of a composition and indeed many countries have no specific mechanism for doing so. And, just being similar to another piece of music is not enough, the copyright holder of this other piece of music has to prove our composer listened to and copied that other piece of music and that's usually pretty tricky to do.

Of course anyone can lay claim or sue for anything, particularly in the US, so any serious composer would take at least some basic measures to protect their intellectual property to discourage any claims/legal action. Filmmakers also need protection against a composer who might simply copy someone else's IP, which is why in a contract with a composer there is always one or more clauses where the composer agrees to provide "the production" with original compositions. Your mistake was not when you submitted documents to the US Copyright Office but in not having an appropriate contract with a composer and in hiring a composer who apparently knows nothing about the actual business of composing.

G

 

[Modern Day Myth Prod. LLC]

My music composer is a trustworthy person who didn't believe something like this would happen where her music would be challenged. I believe her when she tells me her work is original. As I said, I put everything on the DVD to be copyrighted. So, we should be protected now. I even put the music composer in touch with my lawyer to give her legal advice on protecting her works.

I do know a court of law, distributors, and unions want to see a copyright certificate as proof of ownership. That's why I do register my films. If the original payment did not get lost in the hands of the Copyright Office, the registration date could be six months sooner.

I will be working with the same music composer to score the extended version of the film. She will create a whole new composition for the extended version of the film. We already talked about this. We will not publish it or make it public before we get the published rights back.

We will use the same one minute trailer, since it is the same story with more scenes to flush out the story better. The trailer is now officially copyrighted, since it is on the DVD that went to the US Copyright Office. The trailer's music is not being challenged.

 

[AudioPostExpert]

My music composer is a trustworthy person who didn't believe something like this would happen where her music would be challenged.

That's a contradiction!

I do know a court of law, distributors, and unions want to see a copyright certificate as proof of ownership.

A certificate from the US Copyright Office is NOT proof of ownership, it just certifies when you applied to register your copyright.

We will not publish it or make it public before we get the published rights back.

Back from where?

The trailer is now officially copyrighted, since it is on the DVD that went to the US Copyright Office.

You seem to be missing the point, the US Copyright Office does not issue "official copyrights", it has no power to do so! The "official copyright" was automatically yours the day you burnt the DVD. All the US Copyright Office does is make the details of your copyright a matter of "public record". However, your copyright is protected by law regardless of whether you register it or not! I believe in the US there are certain *additional* potential legal benefits to registering but they are additional to the protection automatically granted.

G

 

[Modern Day Myth Prod. LLC]

In the USA, we have to get things in writing for legal matters.

"I do know a court of law, distributors, and unions want to see a copyright certificate as proof of ownership. That's why I do register my films. If the original payment did not get lost in the hands of the Copyright Office, the registration date could be six months sooner."

These are the people who matter. I cannot get a serious distributor without a copyright certificate, the American production unions such as SAG want a copy of the copyright certificate for the production's screenplay or film or proof that it is in the possession of the US Copyright Office as proof of who owns the rights to the material of a production, and a US court will ask for a Copyright Certificate or WGA certificate of the screenplay to determine who owns the rights to a film.

They don't work on an honor system.

 

[Modern Day Myth Prod. LLC]

Also, my composer said she can publish rights to her music and would if we were making a big budget production expecting to come out with a separate sound track. Then, she believes, it is necessary to publish rights to her music.

 

[AudioPostExpert]

American production unions such as SAG want a copy of the copyright certificate for the production's screenplay or film or proof that it is in the possession of the US Copyright Office as proof of who owns the rights to the material of a production, and a US court will ask for a Copyright Certificate or WGA certificate of the screenplay to determine who owns the rights to a film..

Again, registration only "establishes a public record of the copyright claim" it does NOT determine who owns the rights to a film or any other work covered by copyright law!

"The way in which copyright protection is secured is frequently misunderstood. No publication or registration or other action in the Copyright Office is required to secure copyright ... Copyright is secured automatically when the work is created ... In general, copyright registration is a legal formality intended to make a public record of the basic facts of a particular copyright. However, registration is not a condition of copyright protection."

Also, my composer said she can publish rights to her music and would if we were making a big budget production expecting to come out with a separate sound track. Then, she believes, it is necessary to publish rights to her music.

"Publication is no longer the key to obtaining federal copyright as it was under the Copyright Act of 1909."

Everything in italics/quotation marks in this post is taken from this Copyright Basics document published by the US Copyright Office themselves! I'm not saying that you or your composer should not register your copyrights, you absolutely should but registration with the US Copyright office is NOT proof of ownership!

G