OT: TV rights for my dvd?

VMP wrote on 8/19/2009, 3:11 AM

Hi, I got recently an email where the mailer asked me if it’s ok to broadcast my DVDs, and whom to contact for the TV rights.

My DVDs are already for sale, but I have not yet thought of the broadcasting possibilities.What are the steps that I should take before sending my DVDs for broadcasting?

As I know until now there are two possibilities.
A. Let the broadcaster 'buy' my DVDs for an X amount for the permission to broadcast for X time(?).B. Or that I get royalties per broadcast sessions (?).

Should I register my DVD's with some registry center (Europe) who will keep the track of my DVDs and their broadcasting sessions?

The mailer wants to broadcast it at Italy.

What are the possibilities?
Thank you in advance!

Comments

musicvid10 wrote on 8/19/2009, 6:05 AM

This is a complicated area, and your rights and obligations vary from country to country.

You should consult a copyright / IR attorney before making any commitment. It would be easy to be duped into losing all the broadcast rights to your product, which I am sure you don't want to happen.

If you are affiliated with the nonprofit arts, this legal advice is sometimes available pro bono as a service to the arts community.

Xander wrote on 8/19/2009, 6:41 AM

One other area to watch is the small print of any royalty free content that you may have used in the production of your DVD. I know a whole bunch of them have exclusions for broadcast and movie theaters.