September 3, 2010

Q&A: I Want to Show Casablanca in My Short…What Are My Options?

By MATT GALSOR
Learn more about MattQ: I want to shoot a short film in which a couple is on a date to the movie Casablanca in one of the scenes. I know I can’t use it without permission from Warner Bros. So I have three questions really:

1. Is it possible that Warner Bros. would grant me permission to use a few short clips of Casablanca for a small or zero fee? If so, who would I talk to at WB about this?

2. Can I use an out of focus shot of the film playing in the background without rights?

3. If I have actors rerecord the lines, imitating the voice of Bogart and Bergman, am I still in any trouble?

I know the easy answer is to spoof a generic romance movie, but it would pack a better punch if I could use Casablanca.

A: What about this elegant solution — why not spoof a generic romance movie instead? Can my answer be in a form of a question?

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Posted In: Copyright , Film and Television , Matt Galsor , Music , Q&A

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September 1, 2010

My Brush with Lawlessness: Jailbreaking iPhones and the DMCA

By AARON GAFNI
Learn more about AaronI thought I was breaking the law. Okay, it was breaking the law in the dorkiest way possible, but still, breaking the law is always kind of cool (wait, I’m a lawyer — am I allowed to say that?). After hours of research, I put my brand new first generation iPhone into the hands of some rogue programming genius with a vitamin D deficiency. The plan was to jailbreak and unlock my iPhone. In simple terms, jailbreaking allows you to modify the iPhone operating system in ways that Apple doesn’t allow. At the time, the App Store was just a gleam in Steve Jobs’ eye; jailbreaking would enable me to download games and other apps iPhone owners now take for granted. But I was more interested in unlocking the iPhone, which would allow me to run the phone on T-Mobile instead of AT&T (and avoid AT&T’s ungodly rates). Somehow I wasn’t deterred by the dozens of horror stories online about failed jailbreaking attempts, stories about “bricked” iPhones that never worked again. I certainly wasn’t going to drop another $400 on a new iPhone, so I knew I only had one shot at breaking out of jail. I downloaded the program and, like magic, I was playing Super Mario Bros. 3 in a matter of minutes — never a doubt.

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Posted In: Aaron Gafni , Copyright , DMCA , Internet , Legislation , Technology

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August 30, 2010

Five Legal Issues Every Documentary Filmmaker Should Keep in Mind

By KEN BASIN
Learn more about KenThe entertainment industry can be a legal minefield. And while the legal issues that face documentary filmmakers may not be unique, documentarians — who typically work on shoestring budgets, rely heavily on preexisting copyrighted materials, and often say things that moneyed and powerful interests don’t want to hear — are uniquely vulnerable. With that in mind, here’s a “top 5” list of legal issues that you, our favorite documentary filmmaker (yes, you, silly), should know about when planning, making, and selling your film.

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Posted In: Accounting , Copyright , DMCA , Fair Use , Film and Television , First Amendment , Ken Basin , Music

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August 27, 2010

Q&A: Do All Contracts Have to Be in Writing?

By JESSE SAIVAR
Learn more about JesseQ: Do all contracts have to be in writing?

A: I like you. No messing around, no background, just a short, straight-shootin’ question. Well, I’ve got a short, but not so straight-shootin’ answer: Not necessarily.

In fact, the majority of contracts that you deal with in your daily life are not in writing. Most are not even oral. Let’s say you rush to your local, mom-and-pop bookstore (e.g., Border’s or Barnes & Noble) to pick up the latest book in the Twilight series. You slide your money across the counter and rush out of the store, teen abstinence drama in hand, skipping with glee. A week later, when you’re only on page 68, an employee of Border’s shows up at your door and rips the book out of your hands. “We didn’t have a written contract so our transaction is invalid” she tells you, with bespectacled smugness. Can they do this?! Of course not. When you paid your money and they let you walk out of the store with your shiny new book, what you had entered into was a binding “implied” contract. It was implied that your payment allowed you to own the book; there was no need for you to enter into an express written or oral agreement.

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Posted In: Contracts , Copyright , Jesse Saivar , Q&A

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August 25, 2010

Leggo My Likeness, Part Deux: Does Starcraft II Violate Arnold Schwarzenegger's Right of Publicity?

By DAN NABEL
Learn more about DanAs comedian Myq Kaplan says, “There’s a spectrum of dorkery from people who use words like dorkery and those who do not.” When Starcraft II was released on July 23, I was one of the millions of uberdorks around the world whose preorder instantly made it the fastest and best-selling computer game of 2010. As an additional testament to my dorkery, I soon thereafter identified a myriad of legal issues with the game.

Number one, the game destroys graphics cards (especially in laptops) because Activision-Blizzard forgot to include a framerate cap. This small oversight caused thousands of graphics cards like mine to overheat and die during game play. Huge potential for a class-action lawsuit? Possibly, but not very interesting, academically.

Number two, the game has a gigantic, mechanized soldier unit based on Arnold Schwarzenegger called the “Thor” (yielding the optimal blend of dorkery and machismo). But alas, as any Arnold aficionado can immediately tell, the Thor is voiced by a sound-alike and not the actual Governator. This made me wonder: did Arnold license his right of publicity for Starcraft II, or does the First Amendment give Activision-Blizzard the right to use Arnold's likeness without his permission?

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Posted In: Dan Nabel , Film and Television , First Amendment , Right of Publicity , Talent , Video Games

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August 23, 2010

Now Starting at Quarterback, a Thinly-Veiled Version of Your Childhood Sports Hero

By RICARDO CESTERO
Learn more about RicardoThe Madden NFL series of video games is the latest victim of the rash of lawsuits attacking video games for allegedly using celebrity likenesses without permission. Earlier this month, a retired Cincinnati Bengal and Tampa Bay Buccaneer named Michael, a.k.a “Tony,” Davis brought a class action lawsuit on behalf of 6,000 retired NFL players, accusing publisher EA Sports of using likenesses of retired NFL players in its games without permission. Our regular readers know all about the ubiquity of these right of publicity cases, and in particular, how they’ve emerged in the video game context. And the script is usually familiar: video game portrays well-known celebrity’s image or likeness, celebrity gets mad, and it’s off to the courthouse. But this case is particularly interesting, because the plaintiffs’ claims don’t actually involve EA using their names or likeness.

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Posted In: First Amendment , Litigation , Ricardo Cestero , Right of Publicity , Sports , Video Games

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Law Law Land contains information of a general nature that is not intended to be legal advice and should not be considered or relied on as legal advice. Any reader of Law Law Land who has legal matters involving information addressed on this website should consult with an experienced entertainment attorney. Law Law Land does not create an attorney-client relationship with any reader of this website. The opinions expressed in the posts are the individual opinions of the authors and do not represent the opinions of Greenberg Glusker, its employees, agents, or clients.