#Who owns the week magazine how to#
#Who owns the week magazine license#

In practice, of course, the moviemaker in the above example often ends up not owning the copyrights to his or her work.

#Who owns the week magazine license#

(Note that, although the client does not own the copyrights to this hypothetical video, it could generally argue that it enjoys an implied license to use the video for which it paid.) This is so because under the Copyright Act, the artist who fixes the work in a tangible medium owns the copyright, not the third party for whose benefit the work was created. This would include both the raw footage and the final, edited version of the video. The default rule under the Copyright Act is that the moviemaker owns all copyrights in the video. To use a simple hypothetical, letвЂ™s assume that a moviemaker is hired by a third-party client to film and edit a promotional video, and the moviemaker does so without outside assistance.

#Who owns the week magazine how to#

Is there a right or wrong way to approach this issue and is there an appropriate way to phrase it in a contract?ДЄ: While I am unable to offer specific advice about how to structure your contracts, as that would improperly cross the line between blog response and the provision of legal services, I can explain to you the fundamentals underlying this situation-i.e. I added the last part when clients became unhappy with not owning all the raw takes/shots. But I also say that they can have access to a copy (the non-master files) of that footage if they request it and can use it however they best see fit.

IвЂ™ve since written into my contracts that I own the raw footage and can use it for non-competing marketing materials as well as my own companyвЂ™s marketing materials. My understanding is that the clients own the finished piece that I was contracted to produce, but I reserve the rights to the master, raw footage I shot to be able to make that video. Q: In shooting promotional/marketing or educational/instructional videos, my clients often seem confused about who owns the raw footage and who owns the finished piece when the project is complete.

Have a burning question yourself? Email it to and your question may just be on next weekвЂ™s blog! Cinema Law is presented as general information only and is not meant to take the place of professional legal advice. 2 Comments Welcome to вЂњCinema Law,вЂќ вЂ™s blog where you ask the questions of our resident team of legal experts and, each week, theyвЂ™ll provide the answers to your production queries.