Complicated performance rights question

[jkornelis]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

 

[jkornelis]

Weird- I'm posting from my phone and can't seem to edit my question, which obviously didn't go through. Intended text:

Hi there,

I'm an actor in Minnesota with a bit of a convoluted situation. Some time ago, a group of actors and I collaborated on an original work which we performed publicly several times. One of those performances was filmed and edited by a member of our cast but the recording was never made available to the public.

Recently, several members of that group (including the member that did the filming) have formed a company and are now offering access to that film on Patreon for donors. They never informed or received permission from the rest of the performers outside of the company.

My question is, do I have any legal rights in regard to a recording of my performance, with which is now being monetized without my consent? Or do all the rights belong to the videographer?

 

[quincy]

Weird- I'm posting from my phone and can't seem to edit my question, which obviously didn't go through. Intended text:

Hi there,

I'm an actor in Minnesota with a bit of a convoluted situation. Some time ago, a group of actors and I collaborated on an original work which we performed publicly several times. One of those performances was filmed and edited by a member of our cast but the recording was never made available to the public.

Recently, several members of that group (including the member that did the filming) have formed a company and are now offering access to that film on Patreon for donors. They never informed or received permission from the rest of the performers outside of the company.

My question is, do I have any legal rights in regard to a recording of my performance, with which is now being monetized without my consent? Or do all the rights belong to the videographer?

I imagine you understand now how important it can be to have a written agreement in place that outlines clearly the rights and obligations of all members in a group when working on a project together. A collaboration agreement could have eliminated the problems that are now surfacing with the original work you and the other actors created together.

That said, when there is no written collaboration agreement in place, the law considers all collaborators to share equally in all rights to the work. What this means is that any one of the members can reproduce the work, perform (or display) the work, distribute the work, and prepare adaptations or derivatives of the work. The only caveat in exercising any of these rights individually is that, absent a collaboration agreement, any profits made or revenue generated must be shared equally with the other collaborators.

As to the video, the videographer owns the copyrights in the film itself, as he created it. However, the film would be considered a derivative work. If he, or the company he is in, wants to capitalize on the work, he would need permission from the other collaborators or he would need to share equally in any revenues generated by the film.

Although it seems late to form an agreement now, it is recommended that you and the others who contributed to creating the work get an agreement reduced to writing on how you want the original work handled. I recommend you see an attorney to help you draft the agreement that will meet the wants and needs of all of the copyright holders.

Good luck.