New USC Cinema Copyright Policy
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Let us know if you want film students to hang on to the Copyright to their work
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2008
July 2008
Hi John,It seems USC are acknowledging the fact that they don’t own the underlying rights (scripts, etc.) to the films that are produced using their funds & facilities, giving the original authors freedom to exploit their copyrights as they see fit.
What I don’t understand is how they could claim ownership to the copyright to the student-produced projects without it being a “work-made-for-hire.” Don’t the student’s fees/tuitions partially pay for the schools funds and facilities that are being used?
I know employers can make claim to something an employee creates/invents during their employment, but students at USC are not employees.
I suppose if it is a requirement that the students relinquish copyright to their films in exchange for use of USC funds and facilities, and then the students use said funds & facilities, then they have agreed to those terms.
Interesting stuff, but I agree that USC should be teaching copyright law as part of their curriculum.
Hi John,I do not disagree with you.
There is no “legal” reason. H
owever, there may be a financial reason, which includes “risk.”I can only think of two ways an “author” gives up their copyright:
1.They willing do so in exchange for money (or other things of value).
2.They willing do so out of ignorance.
#1 is how the majority of films are made in this country, under “work-made-for-hire” copyright law, where the Employer is the Author. This would include all option agreements on stories, treatments, and screenplays. In every other country signatory to the Berne Convention, except the U.S., the original “author” never gives up their copyright.
#2 is what you are trying to resolve by educating the masses, particularly USC film students, and making those students aware that USC requires them to give up their copyrights in exchange for use of USC resources. The solution here is that the students never sign the USC Copyright Policy Agreement (nor use USC resources)... for if they do, even if they have registered their work for copyright in their own names, that copyright will transfer to USC (in my opinion), if they’ve signed that agreement and used USC resources.
This is the same problem screenwriters have. I always register for copyright every draft of every script I write. Yet, the only way a screenwriter can hang on to their copyrights is if they raise the money and/or finance the film themselves (where they are taking the financial risk).
When I decided to go into the film industry, I enrolled in a Certificate Program through UCLA Extension. One of the classes was dealing with the “Business” side of the industry where I learned very basic contract stuff including copyright law. When I finished the program, and wrote my first screenplay, the first thing I did was to mail it off for copyright registration, and I was in Australia at the time. What I learned from the class was that an OPTION AGREEMENT was an agreement that gave the producer an exclusive option to buy my “copyright” for a specified amount of money within a specified period of time. Fortunately for me, the sample Option Agreement I received in class had a space to fill in the copyright registration number and date...so that is what I wanted to get when I sent my script off for copyright registration.
In most foreign countries, the writer of the screenplay is considered the “author” of the screenplay. The director of a film is considered the “author” of the film. This is why both the WGA and DGA are receiving and distributing Foreign Levies (copyright royalties) payments on behalf of all North American writers and directors, whether they are members of those Guilds or not. In these countries, no business or entity is ever considered the author. It must be a person...which flies in the face of our “work-made-for-hire” Employer is the Author system in this country.
Yes, knowing something about copyright law is EXTREMELY important... so I commend you on your efforts to educate the ignorant.
Best Regards,
Mark
2007
March 2007Well, I think this is exactly right. I have never understood the rationale for a film school taking over a student film as their own property. It's like the ultimate Hollywood bad deal before you have ever matriculated into the bad deals of Hollywood. Plus, if anyone were ever to take it court it probably is illegal for the school to usurp all this property and call it their own. It's a very corporate, not scholastic approach to their students which is a shame.
Rob Durbin - St. Louis
