Legal Articles

• Business License
• Child Labor Laws
• Copyright
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• Fictitious Business Name
• Labor Laws
• Limited Liability Company
• Location Release Forms
• Talent Contracts
• Talent Release Forms

• What's Legal Placing Products in Your Production
  October, 2009
  by Mark Levy and Michael Bashover
  Placing Products in Your Production
• From Music Video Maker to Hollywood Director
  February, 2012
  by Mark Montgomery
  Editing music videos isn't too hard... all you need is a band, a camera or two, some editing software and a lot of patience! Music video editing is all about the pacing and the genre, and is the one place where you get creative and crazy!
• Risky Business - Film and Video Insurance
  February, 2012
  by Mark Jensen
  Don't put your livelihood and creativity at risk. Film and video insurance is a must for most video business people, to protect you, and your product.
• Fair Use is an Exception to Copyright Law
  April, 2008
  by Mark Levy
  How Fair Is Fair? Copyright Law and Fair Use
• Vloggers' Rights
  November, 2011
  by Mark Levy and Amy Manzer
  If you discovered someone you never met was profiting off the video clips you carefully shot, edited, and lovingly protected, would you feel cheated? Just…
• Wait, Wasn't That My Substantially Similar Idea?
  October, 2011
  by Mark Levy and Shaun R. Vavra
  Information you need to know to shoot on city, state and federal properties and be fully protected by the law to save you much time and potential legal fees&hel…
• Their Video, Whose Copyright?
  September, 2011
  by Mark Levy and Roman Zelichenko
  Information you need to know to shoot on city, state and federal properties and be fully protected by the law to save you much time and potential legal fees for your video projects.
• You Might be a Video Journalist
  May, 2011
  by Mark Levy and Daniel Rabinowitz
  Information you need to know to shoot on city, state and federal properties and be fully protected by the law to save you much time and potential legal fees…
• What's Legal: Protecting an Idea
  April, 2011
  by Mark Levy, Roman Zelichenko and Dilafruz Sultanova
  When we think of copyright protection, we often think about the down side - how difficult it is to use music in our videos, for example. But the law is on our…
• Wedding Legalities
  March, 2011
  by Mark Levy
  With well over two million wedding ceremonies taking place annually in the United States alone, it is not surprising that the wedding industry is still healthy,…
• What's Legal: Location Legalities
  January, 2011
  by Mark Levy and Candice Geller
  Information you need to know to shoot on city, state and federal properties and be fully protected by the law to save you much time and potential legal fees…
• Who Owns My Videos I Post Online?
  March, 2007
  by Videomaker's Editors
• Who Owns Your Website? Unpleasant Surprise on the Internet
  July, 2010
  by Mark Levy
  After spending hundreds of dollars for a web designer to develop the perfect image and message for customers or clients, you may find that you don't own what…
• How to Make a Documentary: Part 2 - Funding, Financing and Budgeting
  July, 2010
  by Morgan Paar
  Once you are bitten by the documentary bug, you might see all sorts of stories you think you can make a doc on. But before you shoot that very first frame, you…
• How to Make a Documentary: Part 1 Story Development
  May, 2010
  by Morgan Paar
  In this four-part series on How to Make a Documentary, we will first look at Story Development, then investigate Funding, Financing and Budgeting and finally…
• YouTube Copyright Rights
  April, 2010
  by Mark Levy and Nick Andreadis
  How your copyright rights are affected by YouTube. An overview of the YouTube terms of service and how your distribution rights are affected when you post…
• What's Legal Trademarks and Brands in Your Documentary
  March, 2010
  by
  The scenario is simple: background music, either live or recorded, is playing while you are videotaping a scene. Now you have sounds protected by copyright in…
• Take Five: Five Tips for "Borrowing" Video
  November, 1999
  by Chuck Peters
  Pump up your home video with Hollywood's help.
• Copyright: Legal Issues You Need to Know
  January, 2003
  by Mark Levy
  Get permission or face the music.
• What Video Camera Should I Buy?
  January, 2010
  by Videomaker Readers
  Comments and links to recent Videomaker Magazine Articles written to help people create better video.
• What's Legal: When Are Background Sounds With A Copyright In Video Clips OK?
  January, 2010
  by Mark Levy and Mike Szydlo
  The scenario is simple: background music, either live or recorded, is playing while you are videotaping a scene. Now you have sounds protected by copyright in…
• What's Legal YouTube: Fair Use Vs Copyright Laws
  December, 2009
  by Mark Levy and Saba Siddiqui
  The most common YouTube Video copyright infringement involves using songs in without permission of the copyright holder that cannot be claimed as "Fair Use".
• What's Legal: Can You Copyright A Name?
  July, 2009
  by Mark Levy
  The Copyright Act states that names, titles, short phrases and expressions cannot be registered in the U.S. Copyright Office. But Wait! Trademark law can cover…
• How to Stop Pirates with Copyright Law
  April, 2009
  by John Weir and Mark Levy
  You've Been Pirated! How to take down Copyright Infringers with a Copyright Takedown Notice. Your copyrighted work shows up online, but you didn't put it there.
• When Can I Use Public Domain Media?
  January, 2009
  by Mark Levy
  The Public Domain - Unraveling the Confusion of when Copyright claims dissolve. When our country's Founding Fathers adopted the U.S. Constitution, they wanted…
• Seeing RED? How 'bout Scarlet?
  October, 2008
  by Jennifer O'Rourke
  Seeing RED? How 'bout Scarlet?... Fair Use Guidelines Receive a Facelift for Online Videos... Sing Happy Birthday, for a Fee.
• Understanding Privacy Rights of your Subjects
  October, 2008
  by Mark Levy and Gina Gullace
• What's Legal: Producers Rights.
  June, 2008
  by Mark Levy and Gina Gullace
  Private Lives: Who is protected... the producer or the citizen? It depends.
• In Box: reader's letters
  April, 2008
  by The Editors
• A Score In Time
  January, 2008
  by Brian Peterson
  All Things Audio: Music Creation Software, Music & SFX Libraries and Audio Editing Software