Starting a dot com company

Alien18

Hi All,

Apologies, if this is the wrong place to post this - it's kind of techie related.

I'm at a loss of where to look/post regarding copyright infringement, so I'm hoping one of you kind people may be able to help.

I've come up with an idea for a website that will require me to have a few, 10-15 second, clips from a movie (perhaps 10-20 clips per movie).

How would I go about doing this without breaking any laws/copyrights. Or does it not matter if they are only 10-15 second clips?

Any help/direction will be much appreciated, many thanks.

Rex_Mundi

Alien18 wrote:

Hi All,

Apologies, if this is the wrong place to post this - it's kind of techie related.

I'm at a loss of where to look/post regarding copyright infringement, so I'm hoping one of you kind people may be able to help.

I've come up with an idea for a website that will require me to have a few, 10-15 second, clips from a movie (perhaps 10-20 clips per movie).

How would I go about doing this without breaking any laws/copyrights. Or does it not matter if they are only 10-15 second clips?

Any help/direction will be much appreciated, many thanks.

You would need permission from the owners of the movie/clips you want have on your site. Without this, you would be breaking copyright law.

If it is a business site you want, this would more likely to be targeted for prosecution by the owner of the movie/clip.

Copyright is quite a serious matter.

Alien18

I thought that would be the case, but I wasn't sure if the fact that they were only 10-15 sec long clips would make things...easier.

How frustrating - I'll have to give it some thought.

Quincy_3

Have a look here.

This is what happens when no copyright has been granted, you get it taken off the site and a nice bit of blurb left in its place.

Also check this out http://www.fox.com/community/askfox/ question 13 may help.

Basically get owners permission.

Darksun

Under current UK copyright law, there are circumstances where you're allowed to use parts of copyrighted material (for review purposes, for example).

Take a look at http://www.jenkins-ip.com/patlaw/cdpa1.htm, and if in doubt consult professional legal advice.

Alien18

Many thanks.

How difficult do you think it would be to get the owners permission? Would I have do do it on a "per movie" basis or would i get permission from the relevant studios (e.g. permission for all Warner Bros movies, etc).

Darksun

Well, it depends on what exactly your company is doing. If it's something mutually benificial (ie the movie studios would make money from your service) they might be quite willing to give you permission. However, IANAL, etc.

Rex_Mundi

Darksun wrote:

Under current UK copyright law, there are circumstances where you're allowed to use parts of copyrighted material (for review purposes, for example).

Take a look at http://www.jenkins-ip.com/patlaw/cdpa1.htm, and if in doubt consult professional legal advice.

For sure, there are exemptions to copyright. With my studies, I'm allowed to use copyrighted material as part of an assignment/exam without asking permission, but only if I carry the correct (and very strict) acknowledgements/links.

It is such a grey area for a website to use material from other people/companies/sites. That it would always be worth seeking permission or legal advice first. It could save you so much trouble in the long run.

lush_walrus

Yes it would be per movie basis, as although they may all be under the same studio, the people who own the copyright or control permission of the copyright may be different. It can be a very expensive thing, at least with music it is very expensive as royalties are due for usage, not so sure about films.

You really need very specialised advice as there may be a way to get around the regulations and to approach the companies on your behalf, speak to a lawyer who specialises in copyright (sorry cant remember the actual term for them!).

Alien18

Darksun wrote:

Well, it depends on what exactly your company is doing. If it's something mutually benificial (ie the movie studios would make money from your service) they might be quite willing to give you permission. However, IANAL, etc.

I might contact one of the movie studios and explain what I'd like to do and see what they say (if they can be bothered to reply to me). Because on the page that would have the movie clips I'd have an affiliate link to Amazon.co.uk to the DVD, therefore (hopefully) increasing the movie studios DVD sales.

What do you think?

Astaroth

http://www.crossguard.info

The above is a UK copyright law firm and they do have a large amount of information on their site free of charge. I dont know if you can advertise other forums on this site but one of their senior partners does give a lot of free advice on a UK business forums and may be willing to answer such a short question free of charge if it isnt on their site.