Legalities of FIlming within a Store....

[agallant]

Hello,

I was wondering was the legalities and whose "property" it is, if you go into a store (in the US) and videotape? If you later wanted to sell this footage, do you now legally own the footage or do you have make a deal with the store owner?

Avi

[littlecatalyst]

not sure what martin spurlock did to get away with supersizing, but most probably went the "fair use" way and since his doc was about McD he got away with shooting up inside the restos, but usually if you aren't doing an expose, and just shooting say, a rock video, or a film, you cant get away with shooting something in a store, not getting permission, and then selling it...

say for example you wanted to shoot something in Sears or Neiman Marcus and you odn't have their permission, forget it. they have the rights to all their trademarks, logos and probably designs, so they will not let you glean their intellectual property for any purposes that dont benefit them in particular.... then again if you ask, you most likley will be told that its ok.

remember ET? they tried to get M&Ms to let them use their candy for the alien lure... M&Ms thought that people wouldn't like their candy being associated with et & elliot, so they said no. Rees Pieces said sure why not, and then afterwards saw their sales skyrocket (the birth of product placement)

depends on what you want to shoot, and where but most likley you will get an ok. hey be proactive, and when you're askingthem permission put it in the form of an opportunity for the store and tehn charge them a product placement fee

[Amukidi]

Very simple this one! If you even start drawing in most shops, you'll get booted out pretty pronto - I've tried this many times down the years and it always amazes me how quick they are to react and stop me - especially in the US!! They will assume you are going to rip off their display ideas, etc etc, so if you have to do it - do it discreetly.

[seex]

If you managed to shoot without being noticed its their problem and your material, I say use it.

Shooting is usualy prohibited in shops becouse of the discomfort you might cause to the customers and scare them away.

[disassembler]

It also has to do with security. People could study how to rob the joint.

[visualove]

The details are state by state with a federal overlay - so complicated. Unfortunately you can sue in the US over just about anything. You can't use footage of people without releases unless they are on the street. Doubt you will find anyone "authorized" to say it's OK in a store - if the random sales person says yes, probably not good enough.

You can try this method: my girlfriend and her friends spent the afternoon in a mall making a smell map (drawings and clipboards) - when the retail people would get suspicious, she told them it was an "art project" - which it was! ("school assignment" might work too...)

[Esotic]

For those of us in the U.S.ofA. we may be able to find some answers here:

http://www.copyright.gov/

I'm currently on the hunt, but you should also do the same.

I've gotten to the point that I only use footage I've shot myself. Recently I've been to places like aquariums, museums, and other psuedo-public spaces to capture footage (like the beach, or downtown, or whatever). I've been wondering if there are restrictions on which footage I actually have the right to distribute for pay.

VJC needs an entertainment laywer on hand for questions such as this.

Still not sure, but looking,

-Esotic

[Esotic]

Here's an interesting find:

http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ45.html

Copyright Registration for Motion Pictures
Including Video Recordings

[DrEskaton]

I can't find it at the moment but I've previously found information that implies that you need the property owners permission to take photography when on or inside private property.

However it is legal to take a photograph or video of the outside of a house or shop from the street.

Unless you are breaching architectural copyright on the design of the bulding (yes I'm serious).

For people, you need a clearance from that person if the person is the main focus of the shot, but not if they are in the background or incidental and there seems to be exceptions if our work counts as "photojounralism".

In other words it's a mess, in my opinion all of copyright law is currently too strong and should be reformed and overall weakened.

If anyone can find it, somewhere on the net there is a fact sheet for photographers that contains all the legal dos and don't (for the US).

[levon]

ive found that if you approch just about any shop/location and ask to film they will let you. im a film student and we just have a form that says anything that is broken will be replaced and they are not liable for any thing that you do, and that normaly does the trick.

though if you have allready filmed it, you should probably fake it and approch them asking to film there. or just be honest and say that you have already filmed there.