Legal Question

1. h_lane
   Member

   

    The "Add New" button does not seem to be working on the General topic, so I went to a subtopic to see if I can get a post up through here.

   Anyway, here's my problem... I volunteered to video tape & photograph a contest Powwow for a teen suicide prevention tribal organization. Our agreement was that they would add a paragraph to their registration form that would give the talent release from each dancer for me to produce the video/photographs using their image and voice, etc. The organization would give me a copy of all the signed release/registration forms so I would have documented proof of their release.

   It turns out that since they are a federal funded program they can not legally give me copies of the documents they had everyone sign. So I'm wondering what I need to do to protect myself from any liability from any of the dancers who may at some time in the future claim I didn't have permission to use their image/voice.

   If I get a signed contract from the organization stating that they have the release forms and take responsability to maintain them and accept any liability resulting from a case brought out in the future, and I'm assuming they would need to state that they are passing on, or transfering the release rights on to me.Is there anyone who can advise me on what I need to do, or lead me to an example of the form I would need to get to cover myself legally.

   Thanks

   Posted 1 year ago #

2. composite1
   Moderator

   

   Lane,

   Who will be the ultimate owner of the completed program? It sounds like it's the Organization you're volunteering for. In a situation like that the 'Author' of the video would be the Organization and you would be considered as a 'Work-for-Hire' entity. Once the work's done, they own it and the responsibility for making sure those forms were properly signed by the legal Guardians of those children. What you will need is a signed agreement between you and the organization (preferably a 'Work-for-Hire Agreement') that spells out how you will be compensated and their ownership of the completed program with a clause about them being responsible for the content and permissions required for the inclusion of the likenesses, etc. of those persons appearing in the program. Truthfully, 'volunteering' for outfits like this is such a bad idea both financially and legally because they almost always pull stunts when they know they're getting work for free. Personally, were I you I'd let this gig pass. However, if you're dead set on it you need to have a WFHA made up asap to cover your back.

   H.Wolfgang Porter, Composite Media Producer
   Dreaded Enterprises Unlimited, Inc.
   http://www.dreadedenterprises.com

   Posted 1 year ago #

RSS feed for this topic

youtube, myvideo, funnyordie, gametrailers, collegehumor, dailymotion, glumbert, liveleak, redtube, googlevideo, sevenload, metacafe, clipfish, vimeo