Texas Copyright Law Question - Filmmaking

[Filmmaker21]

Short backstory - I live in Texas and am starting a production company that does filmmaking. There are currently 3 people involved.

The 3 of us decided to make a documentary together. I have been looking into copyright law, and from what I see, you can't copyright an idea/concept, such as "A documentary about arcades.) (not the actual subject.) The copyright for anything doesn't exist until something is written/recorded etc, and whoever authored it owns the copyright. From my understanding, "the authors of a joint work are co-owners of the copyright in the work, unless there is an agreement to the contrary."

Person A says "We should do a documentary about arcades." Persons B and C agree, and the trio sit down and start planning and conceptualizing the documentary.

Question 1: Does this constitute a joint work, since all three parties were present in the initial writing of content, or does the copyright belong to Person A for pitching the idea?

Question 2: Person A and Persons B and C cannot agree on which direction to take the project. Person A wants to take all of the current footage and ideas and do the film their way. Can Person A do that, or do Persons B and C co-own the copyrighted material (everything written and filmed on the project?) Can Persons B and C block Person A from continuing? Can Person A block Persons B and C from using anything already filmed or written?

Question 3: If Person A cannot use any of the material and decides to start a new documentary on arcades with a new name, but the same ideas and involvement of previously-committed arcades, can Persons B and C do anything to prevent that documentary from being made? Can Person A stop Persons B and C if they proceed with a new documentary?

 

[quincy]

Short backstory - I live in Texas and am starting a production company that does filmmaking. There are currently 3 people involved.

The 3 of us decided to make a documentary together. I have been looking into copyright law, and from what I see, you can't copyright an idea/concept, such as "A documentary about arcades.) (not the actual subject.) The copyright for anything doesn't exist until something is written/recorded etc, and whoever authored it owns the copyright. From my understanding, "the authors of a joint work are co-owners of the copyright in the work, unless there is an agreement to the contrary."

Person A says "We should do a documentary about arcades." Persons B and C agree, and the trio sit down and start planning and conceptualizing the documentary.

Question 1: Does this constitute a joint work, since all three parties were present in the initial writing of content, or does the copyright belong to Person A for pitching the idea?

Question 2: Person A and Persons B and C cannot agree on which direction to take the project. Person A wants to take all of the current footage and ideas and do the film their way. Can Person A do that, or do Persons B and C co-own the copyrighted material (everything written and filmed on the project?) Can Persons B and C block Person A from continuing? Can Person A block Persons B and C from using anything already filmed or written?

Question 3: If Person A cannot use any of the material and decides to start a new documentary on arcades with a new name, but the same ideas and involvement of previously-committed arcades, can Persons B and C do anything to prevent that documentary from being made? Can Person A stop Persons B and C if they proceed with a new documentary?

Have A, B and C thought about drafting a contract that addresses, in the terms of the contract, the answers to these questions? If all is nicely written down in advance, with all terms agreed to, and all parties sign the agreement, there should be no issues if disputes of the sort in Questions 1, 2 or 3 arise in the future.

That said, and absent the strongly recommended contract, if all three get together to discuss a film idea, no one owns the idea, even if one of the three presented the idea first. Any one of the three at that point in time can go off in their own direction and develop the idea without obligation to the others.

It gets trickier when the idea that is being discussed starts getting fleshed out on paper. If all three have contributed to the discussions that led to the writing, all three would equally own what has been expressed in writing. And, if a film were to be developed from the jottings that come from the discussions, all three could claim rights in the work.

A contract should spell out what happens if, after some filming has been done, a disagreement arises. All own equal rights in the work up to that point and if one of the three wants to take what has been done and go off in a different direction, he would need to buy out the rights of the other parties or risk a lawsuit. Films have been abandoned in the past over creative differences.

If one of the parties wants to leave the joint project and start all over on his own, after the idea has been expressed in writing and the filming has begun, he can do that at any time, absent any non-compete or other agreement to the contrary. The remaining parties could and probably would make his life miserable, however, if the new work winds up being too similar to the old work.

The bottom line is: When working with others on a creative project, you should expect creative differences. Every problem you can conceive of, that could possibly arise from the joint project, should be reduced to a written contract and addressed. The dissolution of the partnership should be addressed.

Everyone should agree to all of the terms of the contract and everyone should sign the contract. The contract is what will tell a court who is right and who is wrong, should a dispute arise. If the contract is written well, however, a dispute may never arise.

Good luck.

 

[Filmmaker21]

Have A, B and C thought about drafting a contract that addresses, in the terms of the contract, the answers to these questions? If all is nicely written down in advance, with all terms agreed to, and all parties sign the agreement, there should be no issues if disputes of the sort in Questions 1, 2 or 3 arise in the future.

That said, and absent the strongly recommended contract, if all three get together to discuss a film idea, no one owns the idea, even if one of the three presented the idea first. Any one of the three at that point in time can go off in their own direction and develop the idea without obligation to the others.

It gets trickier when the idea that is being discussed starts getting fleshed out on paper. If all three have contributed to the discussions that led to the writing, all three would equally own what has been expressed in writing. And, if a film were to be developed from the jottings that come from the discussions, all three could claim rights in the work.

A contract should spell out what happens if, after some filming has been done, a disagreement arises. All own equal rights in the work up to that point and if one of the three wants to take what has been done and go off in a different direction, he would need to buy out the rights of the other parties or risk a lawsuit. Films have been abandoned in the past over creative differences.

If one of the parties wants to leave the joint project and start all over on his own, after the idea has been expressed in writing and the filming has begun, he can do that at any time, absent any non-compete or other agreement to the contrary. The remaining parties could and probably would make his life miserable, however, if the new work winds up being too similar to the old work.

The bottom line is: When working with others on a creative project, you should expect creative differences. Every problem you can conceive of, that could possibly arise from the joint project, should be reduced to a written contract and addressed. The dissolution of the partnership should be addressed.

Everyone should agree to all of the terms of the contract and everyone should sign the contract. The contract is what will tell a court who is right and who is wrong, should a dispute arise. If the contract is written well, however, a dispute may never arise.

Good luck.

Thank you. That helps. More specifically, Person A feels like he can no longer work with Persons B and C, and has decided to work on the project on his own. Because all 3 people own the copyright, Person A will have to start anew with footage and everything, no?

If this is the case, what constitutes copyright infringement if Person A tries to film his new documentary using ideas from group meetings for the initial film?

 

[quincy]

Thank you. That helps. More specifically, Person A feels like he can no longer work with Persons B and C, and has decided to work on the project on his own. Because all 3 people own the copyright, Person A will have to start anew with footage and everything, no?

If this is the case, what constitutes copyright infringement if Person A tries to film his new documentary using ideas from group meetings for the initial film?

Person A is causing trouble, huh?

Person A can make his own documentary, even if the subject of the documentary is the same as A, B and C's, assuming no contract with a non-compete clause was signed.

Person A cannot use the footage created jointly with B and C unless he receives from B and C a written and signed transfer of all exclusive rights to the film from B and C (and probably compensate them for the rights), which might be possible if B and C decide to abandon their own thoughts of creating the film. Or Person A could share with B and C any income derived from his use of the footage in his own film (pay royalties). Again, however, someone will want to give up the footage or I imagine no one will be using it for any documentary.

If Person A does not obtain rights to the footage from B and C, he can still use the same idea for his own film. If his ideas mimic the way the ideas were expressed in writing or in the joint film, however, it could be possible for B and C to claim rights and compensation.

And, ultimately, if no amicable agreement can be reached between A, B and C, it could be up to a court to decide who owns what rights to what and who owes what to whom. For additional information on joint works, you can check out the Copyright Act, 17 United States Code Section 101, Joint Works, at http://www.copyright.gov.

Having a contract in advance makes life a lot easier.