Week 10 EOC: Lawyer Jokes

What do you call an honest lawyer? An oxymoron.

Why was the lawyer skimming the Bible right before he died?
He was looking for loopholes!

Week 9 EOC: Video Content

Vandalism

Theft of intellectual property

Your own Arguments and Opinions

I personally agree with the copyright law although it’s not always beneficial and can sometimes become a hassle when you want to incorporate some ones work on your own work to try to improve it. "A patent is not available solely for an idea, but only for its tangible application. “ That’s always a good thing to know.” A patent is a grant by the government permitting the inventor exclusive use of an invention for 20 years from the date of filing.” That means no one can use or sell this without and permission of the inventor. I definitely feel that copyright law truly protects our work, no one likes to do work for nothing!” Suppose you buy a CD that, in the end, you do not like. Under the first sale doctrine, you have the legal right to sell that CD. The first sale doctrine permits a person who owns a lawfully made copy of a copyrighted work to sell or otherwise dispose of that copy.” Although people have found ways to work around buying CDs, no one likes having there had work stolen from them especially artists.” It is illegal to delete copyright information, such as the name of the author or the title of the article. It is also illegal to distribute false copyright information. Thus, anyone who emailed Tom Tomorrow's cartoon without his name on it, or who claimed it was his own work, would be violating the law.” This is one of the many laws I really agree with it protects you work. Copyrights protection usually expires after 50 years, that’s quite a long time. “A trademark is any combination of words and symbols that a business uses to identify its products or services and distinguish them from others.” Trademarks are really important to customers and businesses the help distinguish products by their brands. High quality businesses are the ones that usually occupy trademarks to help their customer distinguish there brand.” a trade secret is a formula, device, process, method, or compilation of information that, when used in business, gives the owner an advantage over competitors who do not know it.”

Rule of the Law

.” The holder of a copyright owns the particular expression of an idea, but not the underlying idea or method of operation.”Copyrights and permits are both things I think are very important.  No one like people taking credit for your own work! “If Congress disagrees with a judicial interpretation of a statute, the legislators may pass a new statute to modify or “undo” the court decision. For example, if the Supreme Court misinterprets a statute about musical copyrights, Congress may pass a new law correcting the Court's error.”The author or the creator of the work usually owns the copyright. However, if an employee created the work as part of a job, the employer automatically holds the copyright. Minors can copyright their works, but state laws often control how they can market them. Whenever you’re naming your business it is always important you have a valid trademark so that you can avoid any copyright infringements.” A trademark is any combination of words and symbols that a business uses to identify its products or services and distinguish them from others. Trademarks are important to both consumers and businesses.” Under some circumstances, trademark protection can extend beyond words, symbols, and phrases to include other aspects of a product, such as its color or its packaging. However, such features will not be protected if they confer any sort of functional or competitive advantage.” The Trademark Law Treaty simplifies and harmonizes the process of applying for trademarks around the world. Now, a U.S. firm seeking international trademark protection need file only one application, in English, with the PTO, which sends the application to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), which transmits it to each country in which the applicant would like trademark protection.” Trademarks make it easier for consumers to quickly identify the source of a given good. Instead of reading the fine print on a can of cola, consumers can look for the Coca-Cola trademark. Instead of asking a store clerk who made a certain athletic shoe, consumers can look for particular identifying symbols, such as a swoosh or a unique pattern of stripes.” People who feel that Nike shoes fit their feet best can rely on the Nike trademark to know they are buying the shoes they want. A business with a high-quality product can use a trademark to develop a loyal base of customers who are able to distinguish its product from another.” Trademarks always tend to catch people’s eyes other than other unknown brands. It’s always good to have your work protected especially when it comes to film since its cost so much to produce. “One of the major challenges for legal institutions in regulating copyrights is simply that modern intellectual property is so easy to copy. Many consumers are in the habit of violating the law by downloading copyrighted material—music, movies and books—for free. They seem to believe that if it is easy to steal something, then the theft is somehow acceptable. In one survey of adolescents aged 12 to 17, 75 percent agreed with the statement, “file sharing is so easy to do, it's unrealistic to expect people not to do it.”One must always be very careful with copy right make sure that they are not taking other people things. It’s always important that when filming you makes sure you don’t make any brand look bad by accident, or on purpose that can be considered defamatory. “The First Amendment guarantees the right to free speech, a vital freedom that enables us to protect other rights. But that freedom is not absolute. The law of defamation concerns false statements that harm someone's reputation. Defamatory statements can be written or spoken. Written defamation is called libel. Suppose a newspaper accuses a local retail store of programming its cash registers to overcharge customers, when the store has never done so. That is libel. Oral defamation is slander. If Professor Wilson, in class, refers to Sally Student as a drug dealer when she has never sold drugs, he has slandered her.”

Reasoning of the Law

I feel that all my questions were answered to a great extent. I think he was very straight forward made easy for me to understand how everything works. Now I know I can always come to him whenever I have any legal questions.” One of the major challenges for legal institutions in regulating copyrights is simply that modern intellectual property is so easy to copy. Many consumers are in the habit of violating the law by downloading copyrighted material—music, movies and books—for free.”

1. Are there any legal problems with using a specific product in my film?

If you use a product positively in a film for the purpose it was intended for there should be no problems you don't have to use generic labeled products. Although problems can arise if you show a product in a bad light the company that produces it may not be too happy with you. This may constitute what is called “defamation “of a product.

2. Can I use a song or other copyrighted work in my film?
If you are planning to use copyrighted material in your film, you will either need to get permission from the copyright holder, or substantially change it to the point where it is not recognizable from the original source (which kind of defeats the purpose of using it anyway).

3. Do I need to get the rights to music used in my film if I’m not charging people to view it?

In short the answer is yes, Copyright law prevents distribution and public performance of protected works, regardless of whether money changes hands or not. It's the public performance aspect, not the money which causes problems with copyright. If you do not hold the necessary rights for music used in your film, then you cannot show it to anyone in a public environment.

4. How do I “copyright” my company's name?
It’s possible to register your business with a state or national government authority. Business names can only be registered if they are significantly different from any other name that exists in the authority's database.  Registering your business offers some form of name protection. You should however, be aware that this protection only exists for the authority you register your business with. It does not protect your name from being registered with a different authority.  If you want that level of protection, you need to register your business with the relevant authority in each territory you would like protection for.

5. Do I need permission to use my actor’s image in my own films? What if they’re underage?

Yes, you must get each person who is identifiable in your film to sign a release allowing you to use their image in the film. You will need a personal release from the children’s parents or legal guardian; the personal release should provide you all the rights to the film. You will also need to ensure that the child has obtained an entertainment work permit through the state department, and meets all the educational requirements of the state during the film.

6. Do I need any permission if a famous quote or phrase is said in my film?

Anything that’s in your film and is not created by you or your public domain will have to be cleared before your film can be distributed or sold

7. Do I need permission to film in public places? Would that cause problems with people that don’t want to be filmed?

If you are shooting on location, always carry some blank releases with you. It's best to try and avoid getting members of the public in your shots, but if it's unavoidable, it's worth trying to get them to sign a release. Generally, as long as the images of people aren’t offensive, defamatory or unreasonably invade their privacy; you don’t have to get every person in the crowd to sign a release. Some public places may require permission.

8. Do I need to inform the authorities if I happen to use weapons ( for example guns ) in my film?

In most places you are unlikely to find a law which requires filmmakers to notify the local police if they are shooting scenes in public which involve fake guns it is usually a good idea to get them involved.

9. What can I do if my company’s name is used by and established company?

This would be considered a trademark infringement. There are several types of issues that may occur the best thing you could do is to change your company name and make sure it’s available for your company.

10.  How do I get the rights to adapt a book into a screenplay?
You would need to find out whether the motion picture and associated rights are available for the work you want to adapt you would then need to get a hold of the publisher Basically, with an option you can get your script written, and look for production finance, or try and sell it, without having to worry about someone else taking it.

  

The Questions

When I was choosing my questions I tried to find questions that would be short but very useful to me. I really wanted to get a good understanding in issues that I might have to confront when filming or before filming. I tried thinking of typical question a filmmaker might ask one’s self when attempting to produce a film or even start a company. I leaned more towards asking questions that would involve anything that had to do with copyrights and permits, just because I feel that that is what most filmmakers might struggle with at some point. I tried thinking of situations that might occur when creating a film and or video. It’s always very important to be aware of all the legal issues that that the film industry acquires. I also tried asking questions that would help me protect my work and company from any type of incidents. I especially think these questions are core questions when you are in this kind of industry. I think these questions will definitely be helpful and will help me be successful throughout my career.

1. Are there any legal problems with using a specific product in my film?

 

2.Can I us a song or other copyrighted work in my film?

 

3.Do I need to get the rights to music used in my film if I’m not charging people to view it?

 

4. How do I “copyright” my company’s name?

 

5.Do I need permission to use my actor’s image in my own films? What if they’re underage?

 

6.Do I need any permission if a famous quote or phrase is said in my film?

 

7.Do I need permission to film in public places? Would that cause problems with people that don’t  want to be filmed?     

8.Do I need to inform the authorities if I happen to use weapons (for example guns) in a film?

      9.What can I do if my company’s name is used by an established company?

10.How do I get rights to adapt a book into a screenplay? 

 

Legal Authority

In my search for a lawyer I first I wasn’t quite sure who I could contact, I wanted someone who would take the time to listen and explain all my question so that I could understand the process. After finding out my cousin was a Lawyer I automatically got in contact with my cousin Armando Marino. I was actually shocked to find out my cousin was a lawyer I had no clue. I didn’t hesitate one bit to ask him if he could help me with my school project. I believe it’s sometimes better to have your family help you out in these types of legal issues especially because you know they’re not going to lie to you. One of the big reasons why I chose him beside the fact that he’s my cousin is that I felt he was going to answer my entire questions to the best of his ability. I also think he’s very honest and straight forward. I’m really grateful he took the time to explain everything. I’ve known my cousin for a long time now and he is definitely the person I would come to if I ever had any of these kinds of legal issues happening. He’s really intelligent he’s always up for a challenge I know he answer my question. I think my cousin was a really great choice.