Royal Free = Good to go?

[sfoster]

These patches all say royalty free, does that mean I could use it in my film?
http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-f...-law-enforcement-badges-patches-image29760866

 

[sfoster]

I believe US law is the same as UK law in that ignorance of the law cannot be used as a defence. In other words, it's not incumbent for anyone to give you this information (and you to receive it), it is incumbent on you to find it out! Having said this, most university media based courses do include lectures/information on copyright and in some countries inclusion of copyright and other legal issues (such as Health and Safety) are a legal requirement for government accredited qualifications. The basics of copyright law are not taught in general compulsory education though, which is one of the reasons why, in this day and age of it being so easy to create, copy and distribute content. that so many people don't understand it, don't agree with it and/or routinely break it.

I think you misunderstood this point of mine.

I was talking about indietalk. This is a forum for indie film makers and i would have expected someone hereto have go through all this trouble before me and provide guidance.

But apparently I am the first indie film maker here to produce a cop uniform, and I'll be the one providing guidance for others after it's finished.

 

[mlesemann]

I used a cop uniform - my wardrobe person designed a patch. It was pretty straight-forward.

 

[sfoster]

I used a cop uniform - my wardrobe person designed a patch. It was pretty straight-forward.

straight forward if someone else does it for you
but yeah I think i am finally getting there.

I must have had some kind of mental block with this stuff, there are no excuses. Weird how that can happen.

 

[directorik]

But apparently I am the first indie film maker here to produce a cop uniform, and I'll be the one providing guidance for others after it's finished.

I've done it. Several times.

Early on in my filmmaking I contacted Santa Barbara PD and they gave
me permission to use their logo. Later on I got permission from Anaheim
PD. In Tuscon not only did I get permission but they gave me a dozen
older uniforms to use in a movie. In San Bernardino, CA the same thing
happened - I got permission to use their logo, we used their uniforms and
they even let us use a cop car for one scene. Free of charge. For several
other movies I created my own police uniform patches; a simple design
that I put together even though I have no design experience or talent.
And then I did what mlesemann did for a few movies; i contacted a
costumer and they designed and had made cop uniforms.

I still have several uniforms in my storage unit. It CAN be done and it
HAS been done. And by people here.

 

[sfoster]

Touche. . maybe I should contact the PD directly. I've had no luck going through the maryland film office. they always tell me the person i need to talk to isn't available.