VJ Academy: Video Releases

You know the old story about the tribespeople who think that cameras steal souls? Well they might be right, or they might be luddites, but either way, if you are picking up a camera and want to make a piece, you should know the rules and regulations when it comes to video releases.

The basic questions you have to answer (and usually prove) are: does my subject realize that I am going to use this footage for my own purposes; will they allow it; and to what degree do I have to respect their good name (libel).

The rules are very different for every venue. Let's go through 3...

At one end of the spectrum, you need release forms for anyone who appears in a video, any place which appears or in which video was taken (if the place appears prominently), and any music which appears in the piece. These rules apply most stringently for network and cable television and for widely released movies. I can provide you with templates for each of these release forms.

At the other end of the spectrum, film festivals are not-for-profit events and they therefore have loopholes. One loophole, for example, is that you can use unlicensed music. As for appearance releases, the risk you run is that the person will be upset for libelous reasons. If the project were ever picked up for sale (which is possible) and you don't have a release you run the risk of your subject suing for compensation (and you also run the risk that the buyer won't buy it).

Then, right in the middle, there's news. News Crews rarely get releases. Instead they ask people to say and spell their first and last name. This is known as a video release. By making it clear to the subject that they are being filmed, news agencies argue that the burden is on the subject to prove that they were unfairly portrayed or that their image was stolen or misused. For this reason, news crews will never show a person's face when they need shots of obesity or hair loss (you've probably seen the blurry shots of a crowd, or the shots where they show people from their neck down).

For our purposes, I would encourage you to always get personal releases and try to avoid using copyrighted music. The music is unlikely to cause grief at first, but it could be tricky later on. The rules on music are pretty much the same as the rules of sampling music.