more copyright
mpam76895_15961369c9
Posts: 294
These sorts or questions don't seem to get answered here. Further, my queries to the Copyright Office have gone unanswered!!! So let's try another...
Does anyone know if it's ok to splice in a clip from an actual movie in one's own video? Of course not I'd think.
But here's what I want to do and have seen it done in many movies. Not downloading or screen capturing. But it would be my camcorder panning by my pc which happens to be playing a scene from a Laurel and Hardy movie. Not even the movie but the opening tilte scene.
Is it ok to do something like this?
>>>>
Along the same lines, I've made some fairly cult short vids with Aliester Crowley recordings backed by my own musical atmosphere and video. I asked the Office if it's permissable to ask a small fee for this sort of thing and there's been no response. I was thus considering a donation page.
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Copyright questions should always be answered by lawyers....opinions on a forum are worth nothing in court.
The US copyright office is explicit that they don't provide legal advice.
On whether it's okay to add a clip to your own, the correct answer is "how long is a piece of string?" That means there's no single correct answer, because it all depends. It's always better to:
1. First determine if it's copyrighted. Some Laurel and Hardy clips, as an example, are in the public domain. This is because they came out before 1923, were not properly registered, or were not renewed. The copyright laws back then were different than they are now, and it was possible to lose copyright status because of clerical omissions.
2. Get written permission from the proper copyright holder. Sometimes it's given for free; sometimes you pay a royalty.
3. Ask the advice of not just any lawyer, but an attorney familiar with copyright.
Most people just do it and hope they get away with it. If they call you on it, you can claim fair use -- which is a reasonable defense in your camcorder pan scenario. Only courts decide what is and isn't fair use. Most of the time it never gets that far. If the copyright owner doesn't like it, he or she uses the provisions in the DMCA to have your video removed from public exhibition. You can either argue your case and have the video reinstated (and risk litigation), or modify it to remove the offending part.
Movie studios and production companies are filled with staff that do nothing but get clearance for content used in their productions. It even extends to things like having the Hollywood sign in the background of a shot -- that's a trademark (as opposed to copyright), and they are very aggressive about protecting it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_Sign
The above is not legal advice.
Very Good advice I wont even use Sound bytes from Movies or TV shows unless they come with a creative common license. I will not use music files from anyone not even friends . Any & all music sound tracks I use in my films have a creative common license or a ELUA from where i purchased it. the rule of thumb I use is . If its someone else "works" film, music or voice acting clips and 3D models. then its not yours and you have no rights to use it unless it was offered to the public with a public creative common license or a purchased ELUA . other wise your setting yourself up for some legal headaches down the road. .I tell you this from someone that has been there done that the hard way. I had someone i thought was my friend Silviu Caraba give me some music files for some films I was doing. he uploaded them to sharecg for me to download them, and then 5 years later wanted me to pay him royalties for his music i used whe one of my films was doing very well So he hit me for copyright infringement on Google because i refused to pay him royalties on a animation that had over 28,0000 views whe he had give the music under creative commons license on sharecg.com. needless to say Sharecg removed the music since . I have the emails of all this stuff happening to remind me to "Always" get things in writing is the safest way to go. That is why I even record my own sound effects for this reason & I have wrote a legal copyright for them through my web site business. All my films have end credits rols and come with a download able PDF# doc of all the content I used. for when the copyright man comes a calling..
Yes you may get away using a snippet from a film for a while . but if and when they do catch up with yuo for using it. a lawsuit sure could ruin your day. So when in doubt always ask before using or find an alternative. I can tell you from 8 years of making daz animations that even paid content I have with ELUA can get flagged by YouTube by third party companies like CD baby or Rumble fish trying to make a penny off your work. I even had google make me show them receipts for my daz 3D content because Google thought I was using gaming animation in my films. I keep every emails and letter with these copyright events to remind me to double check for legalities to what I use in my films.
So Thats my advice , just make sure you have your license and elua receipts in hand for when the lawyers come knocking