Stealing locations

[srbclarke]

Hey guys we've all heard stories of feature films stealing locations without permission. Such as The Terminator and Last House on the Left. We know its wrong to steal locations and if caught you can have big problems. But are there any ramifications if you don't get caught at the time, but end up being found out later. For example Wes Craven openly admits that they stole locations on last house on the left, so could he get into legal problems now? If so what kind?

THANKS!

 

[Gonzo_Entertainment]

99.9% sure the owner of the property could sue you. It would depend on him figuring it out, being able to prove it, the production company having any money for him to get.

 

[H.Z.]

wow, I was totally going to ask this same question...

What if it isn't private property, but public property i.e. city streets/public university property that you didn't get permits for? Can the city sue me? More importantly, is it probable that they will sue me?

 

[CDCosta]

^No, it's very unprobable.

 

[indietalk]

If you don't have a location release, and it's a distinguishable location, it could hinder distribution, and you could be forced to remove it.

 

[Utopia]

wow, I was totally going to ask this same question...

What if it isn't private property, but public property i.e. city streets/public university property that you didn't get permits for? Can the city sue me? More importantly, is it probable that they will sue me?

If you get brought to court, tell them they'll have to bring everyone with an iPod nano to court.

Better yet, tell them to bring in the Google Street View truck driver.

 

[H.Z.]

Ha! I've always wondered about google relative to permits actually...

 

[Utopia]

nm

 

[Blade_Jones]

What do you mean by "stealing locations"? Shooting scenes while on their property? I'll assume that's what you mean.

I have asked 2 lawyers about this very question. In the absence of any permission from the owner of the property (to shoot at their location) they can ONLY sue you for a fair amount of what they SHOULD have been paid for rental of the location. They cannot sue you for copyright infringement or any of that punitive crap. So yes they can sue if they wanted to go down that road, but it wouldn't be for much.

 

[agcamerasound]

indie talk is correct if you plan on selling the film to a distributor they will require location releases for the locations you have shot at.

 

[Tinalera]

indie talk is correct if you plan on selling the film to a distributor they will require location releases for the locations you have shot at.

I guess that applies to "public places" like parks or open city streets as well?

Yea, that type of shooting is kind of frowned upon (didn't they do that with the Library scene in Ghostbusters? Or is that an urban legend?).

I would get permissions if you could-make things easier I would think.

 

[Blade_Jones]

Not every distributor asks for these releases. And are you SURE you're gonna get a traditional distribution deal? You might be giving away money.

 

[2001 Productions]

I guess that applies to "public places" like parks or open city streets as well?

No, you do not need releases for public places. Sometimes you need permits to shoot there in the first place, depending on the local laws.

 

[agcamerasound]

I guess that applies to "public places" like parks or open city streets as well?

Yea, that type of shooting is kind of frowned upon (didn't they do that with the Library scene in Ghostbusters? Or is that an urban legend?).

I would get permissions if you could-make things easier I would think.

Prob. urban legend if they shot in NY,Ch, LA or any large city with that large of a production they had to annie up the the ol' permit bar. Besides a studio has hundreds of attorney's to make sure they're covered. Because sure as sunrise if they weren't someone would show up after the movie's release with their hand out. So I bet they had tons of permission, insurance, union contracts, etc, etc. on Ghostbusters.