Does My Production Need a Lawyer?

Many independent productions, from short films to larger projects, ask themselves at one point if they need a lawyer. The entertainment business can be complicated, and most productions should consider hiring one. A good production attorney can help a production with the following common needs and more:

1. Obtaining production insurance, which normally requires a script clearance report. A production attorney can produce one of these for you, highlighting potential areas of liability.

2. Drafting and reviewing contracts. Professional productions produce a lot of contracts. There will, and should be, contracts with actors, crew, and many of the other people involved in the production. Contracts written by people other than lawyers often have fatal flaws that do not protect your production. Contracts are esoteric and complicated, but that’s what production lawyers are trained for.

3. Intellectual property concerns. From licensing agreements for music to copyrighting the product itself, intellectual property is the fuel that powers the entertainment industry. Production attorneys navigate this twisting area for you.

4. Freeing up your time. You want to make movies. You don’t want to spend most of the time you could be doing that reading contracts and dealing with complex legal questions. Think of a production lawyer as another member of the crew: you hire them because they have expertise and allow everyone else to do the job that they were hired to do.

Most productions should consider hiring a good production attorney. By the time you realize how complex the legal issues of your production are, it may be too late. The Law Firm of Dillon McCarthy can help you from pre to post-production for an affordable rate targeted directly to independent filmmakers.

Getting Sued for Posting a Picture of Yourself

Social media has changed the way we interact with each other. We post pictures of ourselves to our Instagram all the time, hoping to show people that we are living the life that we want. But the law hasn’t changed at the same pace as the internet. Before posting a picture of yourself, it’s important to know who took the picture and whether you have permission to post it.

This is not likely to be a problem when the picture was snapped by your friend, but it can become a much larger problem when you’re a celebrity with people following you around trying to make money on your likeness. Ask Ariana Grande, who is currently being sued in New York for posting a picture of herself to Instagram.

Robert Barbera, a professional paprazzi, alleges that he took a photograph of Grande outside a building carrying a bag emblazoned with the word “Sweetener.” Grande went on to post these photos to her Instagram account to promote the release of her new album of the same name. After obtaining copyright registration, Barbera sued her for willful copyright infringement, alleging that he was entitled to damages when she posted the copyrighted photos without his permission.

This is part of a growing trend. Celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Gigi Hadid have been sued by paparazzi for doing the same thing. Many of those sued have reached out-of-court settlements. While it may seem odd that they are profiting off of people posting photos of themselves, so long as the photo was taken in a public place, a paparazzi likely owns the copyright in the photos they take. Each case is different and different facts can change the outcome, one thing is clear: while social media has made sharing easier than ever, the law makes sure nothing is that easy.

The Carlton Dance Denied Registration by US Copyright Office

Alfonso Ribeiro, best known as Carlton from the hit 90s sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, is one of a handful of people currently suing Epic Games for putting one of their dances in Fortnite. This isn’t surprising. Fortnite has been a massive hit, and Epic Games has been making yearly profits comparable to Amazon’s off the game. One of the ways that Epic makes their money is by selling emotes, which include digital recreations of well-known dances that players can purchase and perform in-game.

But the most high profile of these lawsuits has been dealt a serious blow. Ribeiro performed the now-famous Carlton Dance while playing his Fresh Prince character. You can see how every step was put into Fortnite.

Source: Cinema Of Gaming YouTube channel

The Copyright Office denied Ribeiro’s attempt to register the dance as a work of choreography. Dance is a complicated form of art in the world of copyright. The denial makes it clear why: “Congress made it clear that it did not intend to protect all forms of dance or movement, specifically stating that ‘“choreographic works” do not include social dance steps and simple routines.’”

This may prove a challenge for all the lawsuits against Epic. Simple dance moves cannot be protected by copyright. To be protected, choreography must be more complex than a simple dance move. As iconic as the electric slide or moonwalk may be, they are not protected. The Copyright Office concluded that The Carlton, consisting of only three dance steps, also should not be protected.

This illustrates that copyright is a complex field with many particular and specific rules. Those seeking protection for their work should not try to navigate it alone. The Law Firm of Dillon McCarthy provides affordable legal services to help those who want to protect their efforts.