Any copyright issues for showing 'brand X' ingredients in video?

prairiedogpics wrote on 5/19/2004, 11:12 AM
Let's say I'm making a "how-to" video (DVD) on how to make herbal bread that I want to sell.
When the ingredients of the recipe are shown laid out on a table, you can clearly see I'm using "King Arthur" flour and a packed-by-hand package of fresh basil from "Tom's Herbal Garden" (he sells the stuff out of his house).

Am I violating any fair use/copyright issues by showing an unobstructed view of these items in my for-profit DVD?
Do I need to blur the brand names/private manufacturers labels? (I know the easy answer is to do it, but do I NEED to do it, legally?)

Dan

Comments

Jsnkc wrote on 5/19/2004, 11:32 AM
I'm no expert, but I believe to be legal you will have to take the names off of the products. Like for a bag of flour maybe put a piece of masking tape over the label so you can't see what brand the product is. You might want to try contacting the manufacturer of the products you use and ask them if it would be OK to show their products in your video, they might give you permission.
kameronj wrote on 5/19/2004, 11:52 AM
I'm not an expert as in I get paid for my copyright/trademark advices....but, what Jsnkc said is absolutely true.

You would either need to make the ingredients "Generic" and/or obstruct the names and likeness. And the other thing you could do is contact the maker to see ifyou could use their products.

They may not out and out give you the permission - but tell you how you could use their product (as in pay money)...

Hope that helps.
rcrawfor42 wrote on 5/19/2004, 12:55 PM
I've seen both ways while watching FoodTV -- some shows have no problem showing the brand names, some go out of their way to hide the brands. The extremes that come to mind are Alton Brown holding up a can of Crisco and saying "I use this" and "30 Minute Meals" where EVERY package has been relabeled.

Of course, they may be able to get permission or even cash for showing products. You can either conceal the brand names or repackage the ingredients before the shoot.
2G wrote on 5/19/2004, 1:05 PM
Pepsi pays a billion dollars to get actors drink a can of Pepsi in a TV show, and they might sue you for advertising their product in your video?? What a great country we live in....
RickGB wrote on 5/19/2004, 1:22 PM
I'm in the UK and I'm sure it is perfectly OK here to show a product. The reason TV companies put tape over brand names is to avoid giving them free publicity or 'undue prominence'.

What you are proposing is crazy when you think about it. If a TV show showed a shot of a road, would they get permission from the manufacturer of every car that was visible? ;-)
bStro wrote on 5/19/2004, 1:29 PM
Sometimes advertising is a two-way street. There is always the potential perception that not only you are in endorsing a product with your video, but that that product's company is endorsing your video (by "letting" you feature its product). Why do you think so many companies send cease-and-desist letters to web developers that use the companies' images without permission? Because they don't want someone to appear to have "official" status unless they've paid for it (or at least asked for it). They also don't want people using their brand name to attract eyeballs for free.

That said, I know that there used to be major opposistion to advertisers using their competitors product in ads (Ie, PEPSI having an ad and specifically saying that it's better than COKE), but I see that kind of thing farily often now.

Rob
Jsnkc wrote on 5/19/2004, 1:32 PM
I know in lots of TV shows and some films they have the prop products, like a can of pepsi that looks like a pepsi can but it doesn't have the word pepsi on it.
RangerJay wrote on 5/19/2004, 1:52 PM
You can always do like Emeril, and have your ingredients pre-measured in small containers. Then, you simply state the name and amount of the ingredient as you add it to the bowl, mixer, etc.
Cheno wrote on 5/19/2004, 2:47 PM
RangerJay has it right. If the branding of the food items you are using isn't necessary, having them premeasured is a great option and I think looks better too. If not, you're probably going to want to contact each company and get permission to use their product brand logos. They want assurance that what they manufacture isn't going to be in a negative light.


mike
farss wrote on 5/19/2004, 3:11 PM
Simple rule of thumb. Are you gaining any advantage from someone else's work that you're not giving them recompense for?
In this case no, in fact quite the opposite!
Not to say as a matter of courtesy you shouldn't ask, who knows they may offer some small recompense to you.
vitalforces wrote on 5/19/2004, 4:44 PM
As a lawyer but not a copyright specialist, I would say it's worth it to contact a brand or two and tell them you are selling DVDs for homemade herbal bread (stress "homemade," i.e., I have no money). The reaction at the other end can vary, of course, but once in a while someone will get the idea that (1) it's a safe bet because you're not selling porno films, and that (2) it might bring in health-concscious customers if you endorse their brand(s) in your video.

That kind of positive response from a brand, can be followed up on, meaning they might then allow you to thank them for their permission in your end credits, which lends credibility to your own product.
prairiedogpics wrote on 5/20/2004, 5:40 AM
I appreciate everyone's responses. I should say that the video is already "in the can" so I can't (won't) go back to premeasure or repackage anything. The shoot/project originally was just going to be fun learning exercise for me on how to do a two camera shoot. My friend was talking about his recipe and I said it would be fun to do a DVD of that. So we shot it using his cam and mine and as I started editing it (thanks to help from Excalibur) I realized, "hey, this is pretty good", I think maybe we could sell a few of these DVDs to fund our hobbies. That's why everything is "after the fact."

I'll probably pursue both avenues: contact the companies and get their take, and if that is a no go, I'll blur out everything as needed. A quick test with adding gaussian blur to keyframed bezier masks worked pretting efficiently.

Thanks to all!

Dan