Evento

Clearance Issues for Filmmakers

You have a great script based on the true-life story of a Seattle icon. The Space Needle is the ideal backdrop for your story, which will feature tons of Northwest music and artwork for local flavor, plus cameos of Seattle residents caught as they go about their daily lives. Your pal from college has agreed to serve as DP, and your neighbor will play the lead. And you have enough funding to see you through filming and post-production. What more could you possibly need?

Failing to obtain necessary rights and permissions for all of the wonderful footage you shoot could mean that you end up with a great project that no distributor is willing to touch - or, perhaps worse, a lawsuit. This workshop will give you an overview of the types of rights involved (copyright, trademark, personality rights and privacy rights) and the types of material and activities that need clearance (everything from locations, music and life story rights, to the guy you film tossing fish at the Market) and will offer some practical tips on how to identify and clear these rights. We will also discuss fair use and the public domain, when clearance may not be necessary.

Theresa Simpson is an attorney in the Seattle office of Garvey Schubert Barer, where she advises individuals and businesses on intellectual property and general business matters, with a focus on entertainment, media law and e-commerce issues. Theresa advises a wide range of clients, including athletes and musicians, independent music labels, filmmakers and other content providers, and traditional and online businesses and nonprofit entities. She teaches Digital Media Law and Policy in the Master of Communication in Digital Media program at the University of Washington and is active in the community, including current or past service on the Technical Advisory Committee for the Seattle Central Community College Film & Video Program, the Education Committee of Seattle Arts & Lectures and the Steering Committee for DigitalEve Seattle. Theresa received her J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law and her B.A. in Anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley.
1.5 CLE credits pending