Copyright Laws for Short Films
Filmmakers and other artists are often confronted with questions about intellectual property and copyright laws. Copyrighting material is often an important process for anyone creating intellectual property, but the details of the process can seem foreign to many filmmakers. No matter the length of a film, copyright protection does apply to movies and original works of creation in the motion picture industry.
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Basics
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Copyright law is a form of legal protection that allows creators of works of authorship to receive specific rights. These rights are granted as a matter of law, and as long as an author or filmmaker meets the requirements, they are granted copyrights to their work.
Creation
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To qualify for copyright protection, a film must be an original creation that is affixed or attached into a medium. This basically means that you can't copyright something that isn't original, and you can't copyright an idea. As soon as an original work of authorship is attached to a medium, copyright laws attach and are owned by the person who created the work.
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Registration
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While copyright laws require no registration to be valid, filmmakers can receive additional protections and rights if they register their work with the U.S. Copyright office. Registration allows a filmmaker to place the facts of their copyright in the public record. It also allows for statutory damages in the event of an infringement and subsequent successful law suit. Further, registration that occurs within five years of publication conveys the presumption of validity in court. To register a short film, filmmakers must comply with the regulations set by the U.S. Copyright Office. This usually involves filling out a form and sending a copy of the film to the Copyright Office with the appropriate registration fee. (Either $35 or $50, depending on how the form is submitted.)
International Recognition
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The U.S. and other countries generally have treaties that recognize the validity of copyrights granted each country. While these treaties do provide protection in most, though not all, countries, these nations may maintain their own copyright laws that can grant different rights depending on the country in which the laws were granted.
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References
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- Photo Credit movie image by saied shahinkiya from Fotolia.com
