Fair Use

[David J. Buchanan]

Very off topic, but kind of on topic because my film was shot on RED... anyway,

I have YouTube clips in my film of Eric Garner, Diamond Reynolds, and Alton sterling, probably less than 30 seconds each. Would this pose a problem for me during distribution? I don't have permission from their estates. Would it fall under fair use? Or do I have to blur the videos?

Thanks

 

[Kwan Khan]

BIG NO.... if you don't have any permission...

Hint: Recently (early 2018) one on my junior staff member took a single image of the Sneaker (knee blow - lol) from online (no permission) and posted on my site for only 2 weeks (FAIR USE), however I didn't know until I was hit with lawsuit (no warning), cost me $25K in settlement (reduced from $80K). And off-course this was in NYC and Crooked Attorney (Richard Liebowitz) who was the former Photographer so you know the story...

and her are few words about this A%^&*LE..

https://slate.com/news-and-politics...ies-fear-and-photographers-love-this-guy.html

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/has-man-sued-you-a-copyright-troll-takes-hollywood-1099156

thats him... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Liebowitz

 

[Marc Wielage]

I know of a case where a TV commercial used a licensed clip from the estate of two major celebrities. Unfortunately, it turned out other minor people visible in the background of the shot were also members of SAG-AFTRA, and they came after my friend the producer for an additional payment of $100,000 (which was about $95,000 more than he could afford). They eventually negotiated it down to $20,000, but it was fraught with stress and problems.

It always helps to hire a clearance producer on projects to make sure absolutely everything seen or heard in a photograph, on a website, in an ad, in a film, or in a video release is legally cleared and permission and payment is made. And you also need Errors & Omissions Insurance, just to cover contingencies. I know of a case where a film clip was legally licensed in the U.S., and then they found out after release that another company claimed to own it in the U.K. And that resulted in an injunction, a one-year delay, and another $10,000 payment.

 

[David J. Buchanan]

Thanks gentlemen! Gonna blur the faces.