freelancers and owenership at DVinfo.net

Tariq Peter · August 11th, 2012, 02:42 AM

Hi,

A lot of freelancers that assist me as a second shooter now think its common practice for them to be allowed to use any footage they capture on their cameras to be used for their own promotional services.

I make it clear beforehand that the footage belongs to my company but due to this I have now lost 3 2nd shooters. Has anybody come across this before?

Chris Medico · August 11th, 2012, 04:18 AM

Do you have them sign a contract relinquishing their rights to the footage and establishing a clear work for hire relationship?

Here in the USA anything you shoot is yours unless you are clearly in a work for hire situation.

Written agreements are a must.

Martin Catt · August 13th, 2012, 09:25 PM

Contract. Proper wording. Both are essential.

If YOU were paying ME to shoot for YOU, then I would have no problems with you owning all the rights. I would most likely want something in writing that allows me to use portions of the finished project in my demo reel, but that would be settled before shooting.

For no/low pay shoots, where I either get reimbursed for expenses only, or paid with credit, that gets to be a different situation. I've worked on a couple of projects with the understanding that I could use the finished project for my reel, but the project died in post, so I'm left with nothing because I handed over all the footage I shot. Total waste of my time and equipment.

If your freelancers went into the shoot thinking they could keep a copy of their footage for their own use, then there was a communications issue between you and them. A signed, clear contract will eliminate this.

Martin

Mark Koha · August 14th, 2012, 09:18 PM

While I agree that you need to have things in writing, if you are hiring people who are that desperate for footage that they are willing to turn work down because of it, then maybe they weren't the best choice for the job in the first place.

August 11th, 2012, 02:42 AM	#1
Tariq Peter Major Player Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Manchester England Posts: 435	freelancers and owenership Hi, A lot of freelancers that assist me as a second shooter now think its common practice for them to be allowed to use any footage they capture on their cameras to be used for their own promotional services. I make it clear beforehand that the footage belongs to my company but due to this I have now lost 3 2nd shooters. Has anybody come across this before?

August 11th, 2012, 04:18 AM	#2
Chris Medico Inner Circle Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Efland NC, USA Posts: 2,322	Re: freelancers and owenership Do you have them sign a contract relinquishing their rights to the footage and establishing a clear work for hire relationship? Here in the USA anything you shoot is yours unless you are clearly in a work for hire situation. Written agreements are a must. __________________ http://www.LandYachtMedia.com

August 13th, 2012, 09:25 PM	#3
Martin Catt Major Player Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: The Colony TX Posts: 327	Re: freelancers and owenership Contract. Proper wording. Both are essential. If YOU were paying ME to shoot for YOU, then I would have no problems with you owning all the rights. I would most likely want something in writing that allows me to use portions of the finished project in my demo reel, but that would be settled before shooting. For no/low pay shoots, where I either get reimbursed for expenses only, or paid with credit, that gets to be a different situation. I've worked on a couple of projects with the understanding that I could use the finished project for my reel, but the project died in post, so I'm left with nothing because I handed over all the footage I shot. Total waste of my time and equipment. If your freelancers went into the shoot thinking they could keep a copy of their footage for their own use, then there was a communications issue between you and them. A signed, clear contract will eliminate this. Martin __________________ Canon XF300, Canon 5DMkII, Canon XL2, Rolls MX422 mixer, Zoom H4N, AT899 lavs, AT2020's, Azden SGM 1X shotgun, Manfrotto 501 head on 351 tripod

August 14th, 2012, 09:18 PM	#4
Mark Koha Major Player Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Cleveland, OH Posts: 243	Re: freelancers and owenership While I agree that you need to have things in writing, if you are hiring people who are that desperate for footage that they are willing to turn work down because of it, then maybe they weren't the best choice for the job in the first place.