Beer signs in the bar

[Dennis Vogel]

Originally Posted by Rick Bravo

Sorry to disagree with you there Dan but, if I have to take legal advice from an "Indie Filmaker" or a stack of lawyers (Legal Bureau) who represent and protect a major metropolitan police department, I think my choice is obvious.

Next time you talk to your Legal Bureau ask them their opinion on giving legal advice to people who are not their clients, OK?

Catch my drift?

Good luck.

Dennis

[Charles Papert]

I have worked on low budget indie productions where properties were not only cleared, the manufacturer actually sent us product for free (such as cases of Coca-Cola).

As was mentioned earlier, the primary concern for a company is that their product is not being shown in a bad light. Otherwise, it's free advertising for them. Remember that product placement is a massive industry, with many companies vying to have their goods prominently displayed.

Even on a no-budget shoot, I'd recommend taking the time to contact the PR firm that handles a given product, you might just end up with a shoot's worth of craft service goodies (but don't expect a free Porsche!)

[Adam Rench]

That's an excellent idea! I might just do that.


Thanks

[Rick Bravo]

Maybe you'd like to clarify it a bit and for information...my statement was based on MY experience and was never aimed specifically as "legal advice" from me or my department.

So chill.

RB

[Sean McHenry]

OK...

So anyway, I'm working on a short for DVC3 and want to use about 30 various seconds (a bit chopped up) of dialog in the background as well as a casual glance at the television. OK, it's Sunset Boulevard, Paramount I believe. There used to be a lot of disinformation about fair use being anything less than some number of seconds, etc.

Should I contact Paramount (silly question) for this short? It will be available on the internet but not widely known about.

Last question, anyone know who to talk with before I start the web hunt for rights folks? I had wanted to submit this before midnight Friday.

I may have to make up my own, similar film and play it out on the screen, like they did in Home Alone with the guy with the Thompson machine gun.

Also, as a quick side note, for fun with signs, check out the Faulty Towers series. The name of the hotel changes in each open...

Thank folks,

Sean McHenry

[Sean McHenry]

OK, called and left a message with the Licensing folks at Paramount, filled in the release form and will fax it in. The catch here is, on the web site it says, in so many words, they only review licenseing requests for on-air television, etc. No mention of short indie films or contests, and so on. We'll see if they ever call back.

I honestly don't think they would be interested but I am making an attempt at contacting the right folks before the contest entry deadline.

Sean