Film Industry Rights & Rules

          For any entertainment professional considering a career in the film industry, one should really pay attention to the term ‘Liability’. In the realm of cinema, there are certain rules individuals must become cautious about when entering into an industry that is all about money, especially when someone’s rights and safety are considered. The law of film and entertainment media is one of the most vital and legal services that individuals tend to disobey over and over again. As a film artist, some of the most important liability functions I have dealt with have been option agreements, copyrights, talent agreements and licensing, but overall, intellectual property has become the most cautious factor of entertainment law for my profession.

           Over the many decades in cinema, there have been various legal controversies that have impacted the film and television industry. pertaining to the law of entertainment media. Earlier this year, there was an intense battle between production companies, Warner Brothers and Weinstein Company over the title rights for Lee Daniel’s recently released and one of box office's highest grossing film,  'Lee Daniels' The Butler’. Warners Brothers filed a lawsuit over the title rights, because they had the exclusive property rights for the title ‘The Butler’ for their 1916 short film version in their film archive. Warner Brothers demanded Mr. Lee Daniels change the title of his film, but Mr. Daniels declined the request, which is what led the battle into further controversy. Mr. Daniels felt that his team worked hard on the production, and it was not fair for Warner Brothers to demand a title change for his film that had already been set for distribution and theatrical release. Warner Brothers  won their arbitration case with the MPAA, but TWC then appealed the decision because they felt because of the time frame between both movies, there would be no confusion with both films, especially considering Warner Brothers 1916 version has not been publicly displayed for nearly a century.

             Another issue recently occurred over Tyler Perry’s script for his 2012 film ‘Good Deeds’. A novel author named Terri Donald sued filmmaker, Tyler Perry over another intellectual property factor. Ms. Donald claimed that Tyler Perry’s film was based on original work, 2007 book ‘Bad Apples Can Be Good Fruit’. She reported that she sent Mr. Perry a copy of her book before ‘Good Deeds” went into production, and years later discovered that her storyline appeared on screen, but not enough information were acquired to allow the lawsuit to go any further. 

           The bottom line of both situations is that by one doing research and having the exclusive rights, it is simply the best way to handle such factors. Lee Daniels and Weinstein Company would have been better off if they had done prior research on the title rights before confirming their selected title. Thousands and thousands of film titles have been in negotiations all due to intellectual property. Now, when it comes to Tyler Perry’s issue, it may be quite different in a sense, only because in today’s society, everything is recycled. Therefore, writers may have a challenge claiming their original work is being copied, because as long as the original work is not reused in its actual form and entire structure, then it would become hard to state that someone else has copied original work, which is sort of a win-lose situation in this industry. The reason I say it’s a win-lose situation is because everyone can have the same ideas, but you cannot copyright ideas, you can only copyright written and created work. So, in a way, Tyler Perry or anyone else can have the same idea as another person (that being the excuse), and say that their version is different because they did not use the same character names, same film title and may have altered the storyline a bit.  But then again, there are millions of people in this industry, and people with this type of creativity are bound to have the same ideas. Again I say, one cannot copyright ideas, one can only be safe by copyrighting written work, in hopes that its adapted with permission.

         Both of these claims have allowed me to realize just how important the law of film and entertainment media is, because if this industry did not rely on film industry rights and rules, originality would be hard to recognize. Again, this is an industry all about money, and people will try to gain it in any way possible, especially when someone’s credit and work is being compromised.