Copyrights: Reel 'em in to your Demos

[robscig]

By Robert J. Sciglimpaglia Jr., Esq.


If you have a voice-over reel that is a totally original work, do you really need to file a copyright for it?

A common misconception of U.S. copyright law is that a work does not become copyright protected until it is filed with the U.S. Copyright Office. Actually, copyright protection begins immediatelywhen the work is created in a fixed form.

Some people understand this fact and try to protect their work with a “poor man’s copyright” - where they mail their material to themselves and keep the envelope sealed so that the postmark can act as a “registration.”

So why spend $30 to register the work with the U.S. Copyright Office?

The answer to this question is that for a mere $30, your work will be registered publicly and, more importantly, you cannot file a lawsuit with any court if someone infringes your work unless and until you have filed for registration. There is no such thing as a “poor man’s copyright.”

EASIER TO PROVE

Another important benefit of the Copyright Act is that you do not have to prove actual damages in order to recover.

If you prove an unlawful infringement, or commercial use, of your work under the Act, you can be awarded statutory damages by a judge in an amount ranging from $750 to $30,000. And if the Court finds that infringement to be willful, the Court may increase the award up to $150,000!

Not a bad return on your $30 “investment.”

That said, be extremely cautious when creating demo reels to avoid using copyrighted works - such as songs - without the permission of the author. In such a case, distributing a demo reel with the intent of getting work would constitute an actionable infringement under the Act.

HOW TO COPYRIGHT


Assuming your demo reel is an original creation, how do you copyright it?

You simply submit Form SR, along with the $30 fee and a non-returnable copy of your work on a tape or compact disc. Mail the material to:

Library of Congress
Copyright Office
101 Independence Ave, S.E.
Washington, DC 20559-6000.

The copyright is effective on receipt by the Copyright Office, and you will receive your registration certificate in four to five months. Because of this time delay, it’s advisable to send the material by either:

• certified mail, return receipt requested, or
• courier, such as FedEx or UPS.

Overnight courier material should be delivered to:

Congressional Courier Acceptance Site (CCAS)
2nd and D Streets, N.E.
Washington, DC.

Also note that new security measures for copyright submissions require that all mail be screened off-site. This adds three to five days to the delivery time to the Copyright Office.

To minimize delays, send your demo in a box, rather than envelope. Also, use standard full-sized jewel boxes rather than slim line cases, since the larger cases are more likely to survive the mail radiation process.

THE COPYRIGHT NOTICE


When you learn that the Copyright Office has received your material, you should place a copyright notice on your work. This informs everyone that your work is protected.

Even though a copyright notice is not required, it’s a good idea because the absence of a notice may give someone who infringes on your work an
“innocent infringement” defense.

An “innocent infringement” defense is where the infringer claims he or she did not realize the work was protected. And this can mitigate the statutory damage award under the Act.

The form of a copyright notice should be: © YEAR John Doe.

The year indicates the date of creation or publication - not the date the copyright was registered. The name is the name of the author.

Now good luck reeling in those copyrights! For more information, visit the Copyright Office web site: www.copyright.gov

[PierceVoice]

Welcome & way-to-start with a bang!

[Julie Williams]

Rob,
1)Is it really necessary to copyright a demo? If so, Why?

2) I wrote a children's book and haven't published it yet... but being in this business, I DID do the audiobook already. Is it necessary to copyright that? Or will a "poor man's copyright" and registering it with ISBN agency be enough?

Thanks for being here!

[jsgilbert]

Rob,
Many people who assist in the making of demo CD's will use actual copy from existing commercials, albeit with occasional changes and differnet music, etc. One might assume then that not only is this something that a talent couldn't copywrite, but additionally may not have legal claim to use on a demo? Also, for those of us who have been at this for awhile, our demos consist of most, if not all, real work we have performed. The clients freely give us copies of our work and know that we will often use excerpts or post entire spots on websites, etc. In almost no cases though is a written release given. An agent of the Ad Agency (Producer, director, etc.) generally provides some form of verbal okay. My expereince has been that it is next to impossible to secure written permission to use the material.

Aside from issues that might iterfere with restrictions of a signed NDA, do you see any problems with usage? In all the eyars I have been doing this, I have had only two clients express that they didn't want me to use any part or parts of a work for promotional purposes. Both were fairly cool about it, although one of them actually went so far as to issues a cease and desist against a fellow talent. It freaked the actor out, but they removed the work from their site and their was no further problem.

I'm sure we would all appreciate your thoughts on this.

[robscig]

Originally Posted by jsgilbert

Rob,
Many people who assist in the making of demo CD's will use actual copy from existing commercials, albeit with occasional changes and differnet music, etc. One might assume then that not only is this something that a talent couldn't copywrite, but additionally may not have legal claim to use on a demo? Also, for those of us who have been at this for awhile, our demos consist of most, if not all, real work we have performed. The clients freely give us copies of our work and know that we will often use excerpts or post entire spots on websites, etc. In almost no cases though is a written release given. An agent of the Ad Agency (Producer, director, etc.) generally provides some form of verbal okay. My expereince has been that it is next to impossible to secure written permission to use the material.

Aside from issues that might iterfere with restrictions of a signed NDA, do you see any problems with usage? In all the eyars I have been doing this, I have had only two clients express that they didn't want me to use any part or parts of a work for promotional purposes. Both were fairly cool about it, although one of them actually went so far as to issues a cease and desist against a fellow talent. It freaked the actor out, but they removed the work from their site and their was no further problem.

I'm sure we would all appreciate your thoughts on this.

Here is an article I wrote on this very subject:



Copyrights: Will Your Demo Get You Sued?

By Robert J. Sciglimpaglia Jr., Esq.

So you just produced a voice-over demo, complete with scripts and music. Or, you took a bunch of spots that you’ve voiced - but which were produced by others - and strung them together on your new demo.

How do you know your new demo does not violate U.S. copyright laws?

If you wrote your own copy and music for the demo, you’re safe. But if you used pre-existing copy or music, or put samples of the finished spots on your demo, then you might not be safe.

Bottom line: if you didn’t get permission to use spots from their owners, you HAVE violated copyright laws and can be sued.

YOU’RE SAFE IF …


If you’re among the 99% of voice-over artists in the latter category, should you lose sleep over the possibility of being sued? Well, it depends.

If your demo was professionally produced by a company that understands the nuances of the voice-over industry, then you most likely have nothing to worry about. Why? Because the company probably:

• uses only licensed music on demos, and
• uses copy that is either written in-house, or which is altered slightly from the original to avoid copyright issues.

Similarly, if you receive permission from the producers of your voiced spots to use those spots on your demo, you are probably safe from being sued. It’s not necessary to get a formal release from the client, but you should absolutely get it in writing.

Email is great for this purpose.

When you get a copy of the spot, simply send an email to the client, asking if you can use the spot on your demo or post the spot on your web site. If the client responds, “OK,” then you have no copyright worries.

IF THE CLIENT BALKS


But if the client does not agree, and you really like the spot, what can you do?

Some voice-over artists re-record the spot with different music. This is probably OK legally, but is it worth the business risk of losing a client who refused permission to use the original spot? Only you can answer that question.

The bottom line is that many voice-over artists do not even consider the legal ramifications of their demos because they don’t think copyright laws apply to it. But since the very purpose of the demo is to solicit business for the voice-over artist, it absolutely is subject to copyright laws.

[robscig]

Originally Posted by Julie Williams

Rob,
1)Is it really necessary to copyright a demo? If so, Why?

2) I wrote a children's book and haven't published it yet... but being in this business, I DID do the audiobook already. Is it necessary to copyright that? Or will a "poor man's copyright" and registering it with ISBN agency be enough?

Thanks for being here!

Hi Julie:

1) It is only necessary to copyright a demo if there is something on it that is your original work that you don't want anyone to swipe from you. Since most demos consist of work you have done for others, than the answer is generally that it is NOT necessary.

2) As far as your children's book, ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY COPYRIGHT IT IMMEDIATELY!!! There is NO SUCH THING as a poor man's copyright, and it doesn't matter where else you register it, like the writer's guild for instance, if you don't copyright it, the Act explicitily states you are not allowed to file suit against someone who infringes it. Definitely pay the $30 filing fee and register the original work with the US Copyright office. The fact that it is not published in written form does not matter. The copyright attaches when you create the work, not when it is published.