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Copyrights?

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Copyrights?

Tell me, is Copyright necessary to send an animatied short in festivals?
when do i need copyrights?
How long is the procedure for the legal formalities?

!! Thanks A Lot !! :)

you create some content you get copyright so long as you register it and can prove it was created and owned by you by a certain date.

Not accurate. According to the Berne Convention, as soon as you create something, you automatically own the copyright to it. You don't need to do anything to have the copyright.

However, to prove that you have the copyright, you have to register it.

All you need to do is Pack up all the Art material & Final Media output in a package & mail two copy to your own address through a registered post.

As skinnylizard wrote, this won't necessarily hold up in court. It's much better to officially register the copyright, and the cost is not prohibitive. When last I checked, U.S. copyright registration cost $30.

Agreed guys, Thanks for the info.

Karan,

There is a conventional way of proving your creations to be your works. All you need to do is Pack up all the Art material & Final Media output in a package & mail two copy to your own address through a registered post.

A register post would ensure the date of package & would have the concerned postage info registered in the General Post office.

In case of litigation, the same package can be produced in the court that will open the package to testify the primitivity of the content.

A general assumption is that those who steal or manipulate creative content & infringe copyrights wont be able to provide the records of primitivity as they would have copied from your original. This way you have a greater chances to win.

But after all these conventional methods have its own limitations like territory, law of the country, etc.

Generally this should work for all, being less tedious a process & less expensive.

Sandeep Gangatkar

Karan,

There is a conventional way of proving your creations to be your works. All you need to do is Pack up all the Art material & Final Media output in a package & mail two copy to your own address through a registered post.

A register post would ensure the date of package & would have the concerned postage info registered in the General Post office.

In case of litigation, the same package can be produced in the court that will open the package to testify the primitivity of the content.

A general assumption is that those who steal or manipulate creative content & infringe copyrights wont be able to provide the records of primitivity as they would have copied from your original. This way you have a greater chances to win.

But after all these conventional methods have its own limitations like territory, law of the country, etc.

Generally this should work for all, being less tedious a process & less expensive.

Sandeep Gangatkar

thats called the poor mans copyright. also its not foolproof. there have been cases where enough reasonable doubt has been created in court that there COULD have been cheating or tampering. therefore void.

so i would recommend sticking with the laws of the land and going that route.

Thanks a lot every one !

i own the copyright as soon as i create my work...ok...so when i sell the rights to any publisher / tv channel ,do I need the "registered" copyright or the "not registered" one ?

what is Royalty etc. ?

I am a bit Lazy to go and talk to a lawer. ! ;)

Thanks again

Karan

Copyright

If you've made it, put credits on it and so on , then you automatically have copyright - in the event of a dispute you'd have to prove that your material is distinctly different, via interpretation, from another work.

This is easier to prove in the event of say, a script, where ideas can be similar but the writer's interpretation makes the whole work different, but less easy to prove if you copy a story arc, characters or even the way things look.

Generally it's not necessary if you are entering a film into a festival, but its done as a matter of course anyway and most people recognise copyright as resting with the creator of the work.

If you're worried that someone might rip off parts or the whole of your film ,then they'd be guilty of "passing off" - ie claiming the work is theirs & not crediting the originator.

Copyright

When you sell the rights you have to establish if this is on a limited basis or in perpetuity (ie forever) - if its limited, then you are effectivly granting a license to the purchaser to broadcast it.

Most broadcasters prefer a 100% buy-out since it avoids complicating the issue and they think they are doing you a favour by broadcasting it whereas otherwise it may never be seen.

If its a 100% buyout then they own it, lock, stock & barrel , although this is usually only for a minimum period after which you can buy it back - however, for the period that they own it, they can exploit it in any way they choose - so find a lawyer and draw up a contract which seems equitable to both parties.

Thanks a lot ,
you have really solved my problem.
Yes , India is a member of berne convention.

so i can use the (c) symbol for now and get copyright later on?

But i have heard and read "abc sold the rights to xyz"
and "pqr is still getting royalties for his works"
whats all that ?

Thanks

Karan

do a simple search or talk to a lawyer. it isnt that complicated. you create some content you get copyright so long as you register it and can prove it was created and owned by you by a certain date.
if u created a film or a show u want to sell it. so u sell the tv rights to xyz channel for a specific period of time. royalties come in when u go into syndication i would guess after u make 3 seasons and they go into rerruns.
u can also sell new media rights, mobile content rights, merchandising rights, home video rights, overseas rights,

i own the copyright as soon as i create my work...ok...so when i sell the rights to any publisher / tv channel ,do I need the "registered" copyright or the "not registered" one ?

I can't answer that question, since copyright is not the same as rights.

Imagine that you own a self-storage business. You rent out use of different rooms to people, but you own the entire building.

Rights correspond to renting out those rooms. You can rent out different rooms to different people at any time. One company may have TV rights, another may have merchandising rights, etc.

Copyright is your ownership of the building. No matter who's renting rooms at any given time, you always still own the building.

what is Royalty etc. ?

If your contract provides you with royalties, then you are entitled to a percentage of every sale made with the work. Example: I write a best-selling book. I sell the manuscript to a book publisher, who agrees to 2% royalties. I get 2% out of every book they sell.

I can't answer the "etc" part.

Of which country are you a citizen? If that country has signed the Berne Convention, then you automatically own the copyright to whatever you create as soon as you create it.

Proving that copyright is another matter, and is usually a matter of registration with your country's copyright/patent office. How long will it take? Depends on your country.

To answer your question, you do not stricly need to register your copyright before sending an animation to an animation festival, from what I understand.