Who owns the rights over an indie film? Copyright

[Claude]

Is there any one person to hold the rights to an indie film?
Let's say this film was made without investments from outside. Let's say the writer is also the director. Where do producers come into play?

I recently came accross a film festival that offers cash prizes, to be shared equally between the director and the producer. What if the writer/director also happens to be a producer alongside? What if there were no producers other than the writer-director-producer? Does the DoP have any claims to make over the copyright?

Who has to sign release forms to give up any claims over the film apart from the actors? Can release forms be relevant to crew too?

Does one need to register a film for copyright after post production is finished and before any form of distribution/release?

 

[DeJager]

Most individuals who work on a movie are work-for-hire and have no claim to copyright or ownership of the film. For example, the DOP who was work-for-hire does not claim ownership of what he/she shoots during the course of production. His employer does. This is always or should always be outlined prior to moving forward with any production. The 'creator' (e.g., came up with the concept, wrote the script, hired somebody to write the script, etc) will often wear many many hats within the indie/no-budget film world. Additionally, that individual could own the copyright or have full creative control of the project but not all of the 'shares' of the profit. Investors could own say, 50%, and the creator could own the other 50% but still have full creative rights to the project. Generally speaking, the DOP or Producers make a lump sum but often in the indie filmmaking world they will take percentages of the back-end profits which also usually end up being $0 haha.

 

[Claude]

Thanks for the awesome reply really ! Great insight into things and since you were so helpful I can't help myself but ask for more insight from you, apologies in advance.

My particular case was as follows. The main creative aspects I fulfilled were the positions of writer, director & editor. I had an assistant who helped me with many things, much more like a 1st AD than a producer I guess (the ad I posted for finding him was 1st AD), much of the work being translations since I was in France at the time, not speaking French very well. The deal to this was that I will list him as a producer rather than assistant since he wants to become a producer and this title will help him. I wore the most hats like you say ( much more than I listed anyway) and I'd like to claim full ownership because of this and being the one who worked about 10 times more than anybody else's individual positions.

Me and this person didn't talk money prospects in case we get lucky. Should I open the subject now, when production is 95% finished and talk this, or leave it as it is and hope he doesn't make any claims? At some point he said he is happy to help as it is, since I will list him as producer. I mean, the only way I see in getting lucky is through festival cash prizes and/or the vimeo tip jar when the time comes. But if by a small small chance this project earns me more money than I would have expected I think that is where things will start going bad between me and him since he can make claims by saying he produced it, that is, if I don't actually talk to him in advance - and the only reason I have mentioned this is because I feel kinda bad to ask him to sign a contract especially now after all his work is almost done.

 

[mlesemann]

You don't have to completely exclude him from all money, but you should decide who owns the movie (you or both of you) and has the right to make decisions on where/when/how it's shown and/or distributed. You can stipulate that he receives x percent of any proceeds, even if you have the decision-making authority.

 

[Morris]

Make sure to get it in writing.

 

[DeJager]

Thanks for the awesome reply really ! Great insight into things and since you were so helpful I can't help myself but ask for more insight from you, apologies in advance.

My particular case was as follows. The main creative aspects I fulfilled were the positions of writer, director & editor. I had an assistant who helped me with many things, much more like a 1st AD than a producer I guess (the ad I posted for finding him was 1st AD), much of the work being translations since I was in France at the time, not speaking French very well. The deal to this was that I will list him as a producer rather than assistant since he wants to become a producer and this title will help him. I wore the most hats like you say ( much more than I listed anyway) and I'd like to claim full ownership because of this and being the one who worked about 10 times more than anybody else's individual positions.

Me and this person didn't talk money prospects in case we get lucky. Should I open the subject now, when production is 95% finished and talk this, or leave it as it is and hope he doesn't make any claims? At some point he said he is happy to help as it is, since I will list him as producer. I mean, the only way I see in getting lucky is through festival cash prizes and/or the vimeo tip jar when the time comes. But if by a small small chance this project earns me more money than I would have expected I think that is where things will start going bad between me and him since he can make claims by saying he produced it, that is, if I don't actually talk to him in advance - and the only reason I have mentioned this is because I feel kinda bad to ask him to sign a contract especially now after all his work is almost done.

Did you come up with the idea? Who funded the project?

From what you've said, I would say that you are the sole copyright holder as the creator. The other individual was brought onto the project by you to fulfill the role of the producer who (i'm assuming) helped out for no money and mainly for the experience. Unless money and talks of ownership were established between you both prior then it basically defaults to the creator, which in this case is you.

By the way, I was just in Paris a few weeks ago and it was awesome! Very beautiful city. Very nice people.

I'm also no lawyer so what I say is purely my conjecture and in no way legal advice or guaranteed to be accurate.

 

[Claude]

Did you come up with the idea? Who funded the project?

From what you've said, I would say that you are the sole copyright holder as the creator.

Well, yeah, the idea, the writing and the entire execution was coordinated by me. I funded the entire project too, and I'll continue to fund it, promotional and marketing that is, as well as possible festival fees (or at least raise the money myself). I did give this guy some money as a friendly thanks, nothing official though.

I guess I'll just get over my reluctance and get something in writing from him for future peace of mind, UNLESS, somebody can confirm it undoubtedly defaults to me, the "creator", like you say DeJager, any lawyers around here?. Oh I agree, the French are absolutely lovely people, when you don't understand what they're saying. Nah, just kidding, in my experience they truly are, didn't have any bad experiences but only with a rude bartender in quite a few months of residence.

 

[trueindie]

Giving someone a producer or co-producer credit, doesn't really imply that the producer has ownership rights to your project. Production companies regularly hire "producers," but the production company owns the film. Credits are yours to give. Ownership belongs to you.

Copyright in most countries automatically belong to the author. Also in France and Canada, there is something called moral rights, which the director also has, as a creative contributor. These don't belong to the producer, who you hired.

If it quells your worries, just tell him you'll make both you and him "co-producer" since both of you produced it. Co-producer legally means absolutely nothing. These titles are sold on a regular basis.

By the way, I'm no lawyer , so you should double check what I wrote.

 

[AudioPostExpert]

Me and this person didn't talk money prospects in case we get lucky.

The danger of this approach is that if you do get lucky, you might then find yourself getting unlucky! Technically, anyone who creatively contributes to a project is a part owner of the copyright of that project. In practice this is never the case with commercial films (indie or studio) because creative crew sign engagement contracts which assign any copyright claims to the production. Most commonly a production company will be setup for the film, to whom everyone assigns their copyrights. One common exception to this is the music composer, who usually retains the copyright on the music and instead issues a (usually exclusive) license to the prodco. Who owns the rights to a film therefore ultimately comes down to who owns the prodco and that can vary depending on who/how the film was funded, who setup the prodco in the first place and what deals the prodco makes with key personnel. For example, the producer would commonly have helped setup the prodco and would be a part owner but it's also entirely possible the producer is just a hired employee of the prodco with no ownership claims.

Copyright laws vary from legal jurisdiction to legal jurisdiction, as do the implementation of those laws, so there is no clear cut answer to your question in all circumstances. As a general rule though, if you don't have signed agreements/contracts with your crew detailing copyright ownership of their creative input, then you are potentially leaving yourself open to legal claims. Also as a general rule, unless you have a clear "chain of title" (signed contracts with everyone connected with the film who could have a legal claim over the rights) then your chances of commercial distribution are effectively zero. The vast majority of indie filmmakers never get past the first hurdle of finding a commercial distributor interested in distributing their film. Those who do, frequently fall at the next hurdle which is an actual signed deal with the distributor and as far as I'm aware, the most common cause is issues with the chain of title. Incidentally, the next most common issue is technical issues with the sound. Once a deal is done, the owner of the film's rights is technically the distributor, or a least, the distributor is the exclusive license holder and is therefore the only person/entity allowed to exploit the rights. Although exactly which rights, for which territories and for how long depends on the details of the deal.

G