BRAND ART (COPYRIGHT)
Copyright & Intellectual Property
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives the creator of an original work, or another right holder, the exclusive and legally secured right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educational, or musical form. Copyright is intended to protect the original expression of an idea in the form of a creative work, but not the idea itself.
Copyright may apply to a wide range of creative, intellectual, or artistic forms, or “works”. Specifics vary by jurisdiction, but these can include poems, theses, fictional characters, plays, and other literary works, motion pictures, choreography, musical compositions, sound recordings, paintings, drawings, sculptures, photographs, computer software, radio and television broadcasts, and industrial designs. Graphic designs and industrial designs may have separate or overlapping laws applied to them in some jurisdictions.
Typically, a work must meet minimal standards of originality in order to qualify for copyright, and the copyright expires after a set period of time (some jurisdictions may allow this to be extended). Copyright registration serves as prima facie evidence of a valid copyright and enables the copyright holder to seek statutory damages and attorney’s fees.
Copyright symbol
The copyright holder could use of a copyright notice, consisting of the copyright symbol (©, the letter C inside a circle), the abbreviation “Copy.”, or the word “Copyright”, followed by the year of the first publication of the work and the name of the copyright holder. In addition, the copyright holder could use the phrase “All rights reserved”.
Right owners can authorize or prohibit:
- reproduction of the work in various forms, such as printed publications or sound recordings;
- distribution of copies of the work;
- public performance of the work;
- broadcasting or other communication of the work to the public;
- translation of the work into other languages; and
- adaptation of the work, such as turning a novel into a screenplay.
Register your Copyright
The Copyright Registration Service can be used by any individual or organization engaged in the creation of original works which are of value to them, which they would like to protect from being copied, sold, or subject to any other unauthorized use by another party. This includes writers, musicians, artists, photographers, computer programmers, and others. Any work stored in an accepted electronic data format can be registered through this website, be it textual, audio, or visual.
How to Make a Living from Movie Copyright
The economic success of a movie depends on matching ideas with talent, obtaining relevant intellectual property (IP) rights, and using those rights to attract finance from commercial film distributors. Generating income from movies is closely related to understanding and managing copyright and related rights, which are present throughout the development of content, financing, marketing, and distribution of films. Clarity on copyright ownership and its use protect the interests of all stakeholders and facilitate financing and distribution, help to avoid costly disputes and reduce the risk of future legal problems.
Movies are the result of collaborative efforts. Bringing about the creative chemistry requires the engagement and talent of producers, authors and performing artists among others, and striking a balance in the negotiation of the rights and remuneration of all relevant contributors.
CopyrightFilm productionFilm distributionFilm licensing and assignmentVideo on demand rights
Film production is based on an assurance that all of the rights on all the underlying material used to produce a completed script are acquired or licensed, including the rights of the writer (or writers) commissioned to write the film script. The producer needs to be able to produce written evidence that they are in control of all those rights. This paperwork is known as “chain of title” and it is important because no bank or other source of funding in the mature film industries will financially support a film without assurance that the production will not be halted by a court injunction. Film production is always a team effort with complementary functions assumed by film producers, executive producers, associate producers or production companies.
Film distribution generates revenue from the underlying copyright by releasing the film to the public or licensing the rights to sub-distributors who will release to the public in specific territory, language, and medium as per the distribution agreement. Film studios play a major role in film creation, production, and distribution. They maintain distribution offices in each of the principal territories following their global distribution strategy. Film studios are also potential financiers of the film.
Film financing is crucial at all stages of filmmaking – for negotiating the licensing or acquisition of the underlying rights on the scrip or the commissioning of the script, for covering production costs, ensuring loans and options. Various forms of financing are available – from debt financing, through participation deals and equity financing to crowdfunding. The most valuable asset in film financing are the IP rights in the film.
Filmmakers need to take a decision on the relationship that they will keep with the intellectual property in the film – will they license or assign the underlying film rights. The advantage of a film assignment over a film license is very clear from a producer’s point of view: a license only grants rights for a limited time, whereas an assignment is most often a full-period-of-copyright term.
VOD platforms are increasingly important and step in right after the theatrical window for films. Video on demand (VOD) increases substantially the range of opportunities for film producers to license their rights to VOD platforms. VOD has a profound impact on the existing distribution models. The growth of the online VOD market, especially of subscription-based online services (SVOD) has been impressive.
WHAT CAN BE PROTECTED BY INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT LAW?AUDIO & VIDEOLOGOS & MARKETING MATERIALMUSICEDUCATION & TRAININGARTWORKLITERATURESOFTWARE
Movies, Telemovies, Documentaries, Motion pictures, Radio & Television broadcasts, Choreography
Logos, Website Design & Content, Packaging, Industrial designs, Business Training Materials, Market Research and Reports
Music, Musical compositions, Sound recordings, Songs & Lyrics.
Course Material, Diagrams, Maps
Designs, 3d Models, Drawings, Illustrations, Photos, Paintings, Sculptures, Engravings, Etchings, Calligraphy, lithographs, Architecture for a building or a model for a building,
Books, Audiobooks, e-Books, Blogs, Poems, Articles, Theses, Plays, Screenplays, Fictional characters, Scripts, Short Stories.
Computer software, Apps, Websites, Source Code, Databases, Games