What Chain of Title Means for Your Film Project

Chain of title in the film world is often overlooked. As many filmmakers consider themselves auteurs and several production houses are classified as private entities, the question of ownership is often overlooked in spite of it being rather complicated.

Working in a creative field often indicates legal precautions are left aside—especially when it comes to chain of title. However, the seizure, control, and transfer of creative work happens constantly.

This recurring transference leads film and legal professionals to question the concept of ownership. Specifically, we are wise to think about how everyone involved in a project may lay partial claim to ownership.

A recent lawsuit sheds light on this situation.

The Black Swan Lawsuit of 2015

Even though Black Swan released years earlier, film lawsuits are known to stretch for years and years—often stalling or completely stopping otherwise successful films.

In this case, the suit was closed and reopened for appeal—proving that legal battles are not a one-and-done ordeal. The key to sustaining your project is to obtain proactive legal protection that safeguards your work.

The film lawsuits we profile on this blog generally concentrate on disputes between an existing movie and a new one. It’s not often you hear about film interns suing the production house they worked for.

That’s exactly what happened to the movie Black Swan. These interns were unpaid, and when the film won a number of awards, the suit was filed.

The plaintiff’s claim argued that, since the film’s interns performed similar tasks to paid employees, the producers owed them a fair paycheck. In fact, the suit sparked a new debate about interns’ legal right to sue for back pay.

In the end, the interns did not receive the desired outcome. According to a court statement, “In sum, we agree with the defendants that the proper question is whether the intern or the employer is the primary beneficiary of the relationship.”

This idea proclaims that the intern relationship is more of a favor than a job-like responsibility.

How this lawsuit highlights chain of title.

There are many people involved in making a film. The director, actors, screenwriters, and producers are the obvious examples; however, we can’t forget about set-builders, gaffers, second unit directors, editors, and other crew members.

The multifaceted team proves that anyone can lay partial claim to film ownership. The Black Swan interns’ lawsuit makes this self-evident. If it’s not pay-based, then intellectual property ownership will come into play.

As a filmmaking professional, you want complete ownership of your intellectual property. And there’s a process that coincides with that desire.

It is crucial that every worker (intern or otherwise) who contributes to your project has properly assigned, transferred, or otherwise waived his or her contribution rights.

Otherwise, you heighten the risk of a film lawsuit that could potentially squash your project. It’s amazing how detailed chain of title protective measures must be. Even crew deal memos must contain just the right language to satisfy both your distributor and E & O insurance carrier.

The Clearance Lab exists to do the hard work for you, so you can create your masterpiece without concern about ownership or any other legal threat.

Click here to learn how The Clearance Lab can help you protect your chain of title.

After a judge deemed the character Sherlock Holmes was public domain in 2013, the question of using iconic fictional figures once more became a subject of discussion for filmmakers.

According to the court, and the established rule of law, public domain characters and other materials do not fall under the umbrella of intellectual property. There are no copyright, trademark, or patent loopholes that can derail your film project.

The public owns these materials, belonging to no single individual, writer, artist, filmmaker, or producer. The use of public domain can be used without obtaining legal permission.

At least, that’s how the process works on paper.

The truth is, there is still the threat of a film lawsuit when using open source material. There are deeper intricacies involved—even with the use of public domain characters, locations, and items.

Even with the freedom of public domain, there is an ever-present need for film clearance.

Your E & O insurance carrier requires that you follow standard film clearance procedures. Without this prophylactic measure, filmmakers and television producers risk exposure in spite of the use of public domain characters.

Even after the iconic character Sherlock Holmes became available to filmmakers for liberal use in their projects, lawsuits continued to sprout up. Though several novels opened up for free use, a few books remained under copyright protection.

The later Sherlock Holmes books, which chronicle the sunset years and retirement of England’s top gumshoe, were used as inspiration for the film Mr. Holmes.

According to an article from Variety magazine:

The Conan Doyle estate sued Miramax, Roadside Attractions, and director Bill Condon over the movie, which starred Ian McKellen in the title role.

The lawsuit also named writer Mitch Cullin and Penguin Random House, publisher of Cullin’s “A Slight Trick of the Mind” — a new Holmes tale on which the movie “Mr. Holmes” is based.

With all these names—production houses, writers, and directors—listed on the court roll call, it’s clear that not even open source material can protect filmmakers in the event of a lawsuit.

Though the plaintiffs and defendants reached a settlement agreement, this case study sheds light on the importance of activng proactively in filmmaking and television production.

How to take proactive defensive measures.

By utilizing comprehensive film clearance resources provided by entertainment attorneys and research analysts who specialize in television and the big screen, you protect your livelihood from unnecessary legal entanglements.

If you think you’ve used only public domain material in your project, look to the Sherlock Holmes lawsuit as a cautionary tale.

Our expert research and legal team will provide guidance that helps prevent legal issues from arising and will satisfy your E & O insurance carrier and distributors.

Before a lawsuit drains your budget and potentially kills your entire film or television project, we highly advise taking the proactive approach. Mitigating legal issues before they become problems saves you time and money.

Not only that, but film clearance protects your future projects as well.  In order to secure a bright future as a creator of screen content, take the first step and lock in film clearance.

Famous Film Lawsuit Profile: Disney’s Frozen

When it comes to famous film lawsuits, there is a lot to be learned about the importance of proper clearance procedures. 

It may seem as if big budget projects are the most susceptible to legal entanglements. However, indie filmmakers are not impervious to legal claims, and these projects are more susceptible to being shelved than studio pictures due to tighter budgets.

The lawsuit surrounding Disney’s Frozen provides an excellent example of how the improper use of clearance procedures can lead to trouble. This case goes to show you how important it is to protect your creative work by obtaining an annotation guide and following it up with a script clearance report.

What happened?

The plaintiff simply wouldn’t Let It Go.

In fact, the plaintiff sued with the claim that the Frozen trailer resembled her short film—an animated feature that chronicled the life of a snowman. The case has now been settled, but begs for dissection—especially since the problem could have been avoided.

Before we launch into details on the case, the below video will give you an unbiased look into what the lawsuit is all about.

When you watch the Frozen trailer juxtaposed with The Snowman short film, you will in fact notice some striking similarities. And thus, you have the basis of the lawsuit.

There’s no question that the Walt Disney Corporation is a powerhouse with billions of dollars and positive name recognition to tip the legal odds in their favor.

However, despite Disney’s deep pockets and top notch litigation team, the lawsuit was not thrown out.

After Disney appealed for case dismissal, Judge Vince Chhabria deemed the legal claim to be reasonable. According to Judge Chhabria:

“The sequence of events in both works, from start to finish, is too parallel to conclude that no reasonable juror could find the works substantially similar.”

Though details are sparse, there has been a settlement. There’s little doubt that an annotation guide and thorough script clearance report would have saved the company money, time, and energy. 

In this case, Disney has the resources to handle suits like this—they are, after all, a multibillion-dollar company.

But what about independent filmmakers, screenwriters, television producers, and other indie artists?

If they find themselves in a situation such as this, the money lost might stall production or kill the project completely.

What is an Annotation Guide?

An annotation guide will identify every character, location, and event and state where the inspiration for each item originated.  You should always obtain an annotation guide from your screenwriter along with the purchase of the script.  An experienced screenwriter will annotate their script (often in the margins) as they develop it.  Don’t forget to follow through with this practice when any rewrites are made.

Why get a Script Clearance Report?

So what does a script clearance report do for independent film and television projects? Long story short, your script clearance report will help you…

• Prevent possible copyright claims.
• Stop trademark lawsuits.
• Bypass publicity court cases.
• Avoid privacy invasion claims.
• Steer clear of defamation lawsuits.

The thing is, mistakes are sometimes easy to miss, especially if you’re extremely close to a project. Not to mention, a legal professional is trained to find elements that lead to legal exposure.

What happens if your clearance team finds exposure risks?

If your clearance team finds legal exposure risks in your script, a few things can happen, depending on where you are in the process.

1. If you’ve finished your project, but it hasn’t started running, you may have to edit or go back and re-film scenes, which is costly and time-consuming.

2. If your project is in front of audiences, you have a real risk of legal exposure.

3. If your project is in script form, but hasn’t started filming, you’re in a good position to make a simple change that will protect you in a profound way.

The moral of the story is, always obtain an annotation guide and access your script clearance report before the camera starts rolling. 

With the sustainable trend of mockumentary filmmaking, there are ongoing film lawsuits based on defamation of character, especially when an actual person (not a fictional character) is depicted in an unfavorable light.

If you need the perfect example of this legal phenomenon, look no further than Sacha Baron Cohen’s Borat.

As one of the most popular mockumentaries to hit theaters, this film has seen an onslaught of legal battles.

Keep reading to find out how to protect your film or television project.

The Borat Lawsuit Example

Even though there is more than one “Borat lawsuit,” the most prevalent one was the claim made by two university students.

If you’ve seen the movie, you’ve witnessed drunken college students making racially insensitive and sexist remarks.

So what’s the problem from a legal point of view?

The students sued for defamation, claiming that the producers gave them alcohol in order to promote the heinous behavior.

Even though the students signed a waiver, there was still grounds for a suit.

From having the scenes in question removed from the theatrical release to erasing the embarrassing footage from the DVD, the college students and their lawyers sued for every possible emotional and financial restitution.

The result: the filmmakers won.

What This Lawsuit Means for You

Even though no money was awarded and the film’s footage remained intact, it’s important for film and television professionals to avoid lawsuits and satisfy E&O insurance carriers. 

Even if you don’t work with the mockumentary format, film lawsuits come from every direction, from copyright claims from popular franchises to defamation suits. 

This is why it’s so important for film and television professionals to work with an expert legal team that protects their work.

There are a number of ways to stop lawsuits from liquidating your budget and damaging your project’s success, including…

• Clearance Packages

  that provide an all-inclusive bundle of reports, searches, and opinion letters to secure your next television or film project. (This is your most comprehensive and cost-effective option.)

• Title Reports

  that provide comprehensive searches for prior use of your title for other projects. (Ideal for satisfying your E&O Carrier).

• Script Clearance

  that breaks down your script scene by scene to identify any aspects that might create costly legal conflicts.

• Copyright Reports

  that document your ownership of copyrighted material, saving you from avoidable legal expenses and potential harassment of third-party claims.

• Chain of Title Reports

  that determine whether distribution of your project might lead to legal exposure due to an oversight in rights acquisition.

Should You Make Your Film Available for Streaming?

As clearance professionals in the film industry, we frequently receive questions about streaming services and exposure.

Truth is, streaming services are now an integral part of the entertainment world, so you may consider adding your work onto digital platforms.

Read this article first, as yet another lawsuit has brought film ownership into the limelight.

This time around, the court case centers on streaming services.

This copyright court case began decades ago, when Vittorio De Sica’s classic 1948 film, Bicycle Thieves (originally released in the United States as The Bicycle Thief), was deemed to be public domain. In other words, the film had no copyright protection and was free and clear for anyone to share.

The English-translated version is a different story.

Even though the original release now belongs to any party, the subtitled version remains protected by copyright.

When Netflix started streaming Bicycle Thieves, the streaming service was hit with a copyright lawsuit.

According to official court documents:

the Court, however, noted that even though the picture is in the public domain a derivative-work copyright may exist in the picture based on a translation of a pre-existing work. 

Therefore, valid copyrights may still exist with respect to any English-language, dubbed or subtitled version of the Film, even if, as the Court has found, the underlying Film itself is in the public domain.

Read the entire brief here.

This lawsuit, and many others like it, begs the question…

Should you make your films and television programs available for streaming? And what should you do to protect your work that appears on digital platforms?

There’s no question that the rise of streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon is indicative of the future. More and more, audiences are moving to online formats for entertainment , and content must follow them.  This is a business, after all.

But where do legal concerns come into play?

From a clearance perspective, we see a very short pro/con list when it comes to digital formats.

PRO: Streaming attracts a larger audience. This is almost every producer’s dream come true—a large (and hopefully) captivated audience to enjoy the project.

Now that millions upon millions of people are relying solely on streaming devices for their movies and television shows, today’s filmmakers will reach today’s audiences online.

CON: Because more people will see your project, it leaves it open to more legal vulnerability.

It’s unlikely that a 12-year-old who makes a home movie featuring a toy lightsaber would be sued. However, if you accidentally use a trademarked item in your project, and that project gains notoriety online, more people will pay attention.

Not all attention is good, not when it comes to copyright lawsuits, claims of trademark infringement, and chain of title issues.

The answer to whether or not you should put your work on streaming platforms is…

You may not have a choice—streaming is the future of entertainment forums. Luckily, you’ll gain a wider audience, but at the same time, you’ll have more exposure.

Now more than ever, it’s imperative to protect your intellectual property and avoid costly lawsuits that could cost millions in the future.

If a film such as Bicycle Thieves, which was made 67 years ago, can cause a legal ruckus when it is first made available for streaming, your projects are equally vulnerable to the threat of court battles.

You can protect yourself legally, and we can help.  Click here.

Why Bother with a Script Clearance Report?

With a film script clearance report, film and television producers can avoid several legal problems that impede production.

If you think your project isn’t at risk of exposure, know that only a single comment in dialogue or a brief glimpse of a painting can spawn costly lawsuits.

It’s often the small and easily missed details that lead you toward legal entanglements.

However, with film and television script clearance, you help prevent possible copyright, trademark, publicity, privacy, defamation, and other forms of infringement.

From innapropriate jokes to the unauthorized appearance of a product, it’s difficult to catch small and accidental infractions that leave screenwriters, filmmakers, and producers exposed.

Not to mention, E&O insurance and distributor guidelines more often than not dictate that film and television scripts must be cleared before distribution.

To break down what script clearance is, and why it’s important, I’m sharing a scenario that outlines how easy and common it is to fall prey to legal conflicts.

Why it’s so important to register your film script.

Let’s say you’ve written or acquired a film script and after a number of rewrites you’re ready for production. You think every single syllable is original.

While you’ve written content that has never existed in any form of media before, there is the name of a business that’s identical to a store that exists in real life, even though you searched the Internet to make certain your fictional store didn’t infringe upon an existing name.

That’s potential grounds for a lawsuit.

Even though the similarities are coincidental, and you had no intention of mimicking this brand name, that one title could cause the production company to lose settlement money.

It’s easy to miss these mistakes. When you acquire script clearance from a team of legal professionals, you not only avoid legal exposure, but you also bypass rewrites, reshoots, and costly post-production expenditures.

If you think you don’t need script clearance, think again. Copyright lawsuits have almost prevented many tremendous film franchises from seeing the light of day.

Here are a couple of examples:

Film script clearance case study 1: The Hangover III lawsuit

Script Clearance Could have Saved The Hangover III

The tattoo you see on Ed Helms’ face almost shut production down.

The artist who designed the tattoo, S. Victor Whitmill, filed a lawsuit against Warner Brothers Entertainment a few weeks before the film’s release.

Warner Brothers stated that it was willing to alter the tattoo for streaming and home video release, but ultimately settled with Mr. Whitman out of court for an undisclosed amount.

The producers had enough capital to pay off the plaintiff, but excess funds are not always there when you work outside of a major studio.

Read more about this copyright infringement claim here.

Photo Source: Warner Brothers

Film script clearance case study 2: the Ip Man 3 lawsuit

Will IP Man Ever Be Released?

This film was to feature a CGI recreation of Bruce Lee.

Down to the signature maneuvers, this animation was to be a perfect homage to the late martial arts icon.

Regardless of whether or not the name Bruce Lee was to be used, there was enough protected material to allow legal proceedings.

The Lee estate took issue with using this likeness and filed suit.

Originally slated for an early 2016 release, this film has been tied up in legal battles and is unlikely to be released until an agreement is made.

Photo Source: brucelee.com

How to prevent this scenario and protect your creative work.

Bottom line: get a script clearance report.

When you purchase a script clearance report, you prevent possible copyright, trademark, publicity, privacy, defamation, and other forms of infringement in your film or television script.

Secure your script here.

Protect Your Film or Television Project

If you’re shooting a television series, a feature film, a short, or even producing a video game with a scripted storyline it is crucial to obtain a script clearance report prior to production.

Simply put, a script clearance report researches all character names, locations, and business names in your script to ensure that they do not infringe on any rights. It then provides alternatives for potentially litigious elements, and contact information for registered marks and copyrighted material.  Failing to obtain this report could result in avoidable downtime, lost revenue, and litigation.

Since The Clearance Lab provides a scene-by-scene breakdown of your script, you have easy access to the clearance issues that arise in each scene. Additionally, the script clearance report provides you with the contact information that you’ll need to obtain rights to use products, business names, and other protected material.  We also suggest alternatives when an issue in the script is more easily resolved by making changes.

A script clearance report provides information needed to satisfy your E&O carrier and also alerts the producer to areas of possible legal exposure in the script. Our experienced team of researchers will compile your report, and prior to delivery, an experienced entertainment attorney will review and revise your report.

Secure your script clearance report from The Clearance Lab here.

Plan for clearance needs ahead of time and avoid costly mistakes.

Timing of clearance procedures is everything when it comes to film and television projects—and it’s also true for clearance procedures. Understanding when to procure your reports and clearance helps keep your project on track and minimizes the risk of legal exposure or unnecessary downtime.

Script Clearance

When you finish your shooting script, you should submit it for a clearance review. This ensures the filmmaker has obtained all the necessary rights required to film it—and the resulting script clearance will identify any script elements that may give rise to third-party claims. In this instance, you should take care of script clearance before production begins.

Title Reports

It’s vital that you protect your title and ensure it doesn’t infringe on any existing trademarks, registered or not. As soon as you settle on a title, it’s best to procure a title report and a title opinion letter to satisfy your E&O carrier. This means handling your title before post-production starts.

Chain of Title

Documenting the ownership of rights related to your project is the best way to reduce legal exposure. It is vital to record the waiver or reassignment of contributors’ rights to avoid third-party ownership claims. When post-production is completed, procure your chain of title review and opinion.

Proactive clearance procedures are the simplest way to ensure your project remains on course, and understanding the optimal time for each one is essential in being proactive.

For a truly proactive approach, contact The Clearance Lab for all your project’s clearance needs.