legal

OhMyGosh wrote on 7/30/2007, 8:11 AM

I am doing a short clip (for money) that will have a TV in it. I was hoping to have some sort of a sports game on it in the background. Can I legally do that? They always say that the games cannot be rebroadcast, or used for other stuff. If I can't, can I film a local high school game and put it on the TV, or would there be some sort of problem with that also? Thanks. Cin

Comments

Dach wrote on 7/30/2007, 8:21 AM

I would avoid using someone elses game footage. I believe your comment about filming your own footage would be a much safer bet.
Film from a distance and avoid extreme CU.

Chad

rs170a wrote on 7/30/2007, 8:26 AM

I'm not a lawyer but my guess would be that you'd need signed clearance forms from everyone who's in the game.
Why not just get a bunch of your friends and mock up a game?
In either case, get some forms signed to protect yourself.

Mike

TheHappyFriar wrote on 7/30/2007, 8:57 AM

you'd only need clearance if you can tell people's faces.

But... look for stock footage. I'm sure there's free stock footage. Heck, maybe talk to a local HD coach & see if you can tape a practice. You don't need a whole game, do you?

You could probley even use a NFL game if you can't hear the sound (overdub with something else, like generic crowd noises) & couldn't actually TELL it's the NFL (blurred because focus is somewhere else).

24Peter wrote on 7/30/2007, 9:13 AM

You may need up to three permissions to use footage:

1. You can't use someone else's footage without their permission (whether you can see faces or not). Like you, they own the copyright to their work.

2. If players or other living people are recognizable (sometimes the color of thier jersey and player number are enough), you may need a release.

3. If there are company logos/trademarks visible, you may also need permission. (Think of the NFL logo as the hand of god here - i.e., don't piss it off.)

There may be exceptions to the above for so-called fair-use, most notably news reportage or educational purposes, though fair use is only really codified for #1 (copyright)

Stock footage houses may have some generic royalty free sport footage you could use. If you shoot your own, you may still need releases from your players.

alltheseworlds wrote on 7/30/2007, 9:15 AM

Just buy some stock and rest easy:

http://footage.shutterstock.com/videos.html?searchterm=football+&category_id=&x=0&y=0

mtnmiller wrote on 7/30/2007, 1:07 PM

i-stock photo has become my go-to source for royalty-free stock footage – and there's quite a few football clips, in both HD and standard formats. An HD clip usually costs about $25 or so. SD is less

At istockphoto.com, plug in "football game," in the search, and be sure to narrow your search to video only, so that a bunch of photos don't pop up.