Copyrights for Film and Television

Of the many issues top entertainment law firms in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York like us assist with, the two I will focus regarding rights are, the idea of ‘derivative work’, and the US Copyright Act requirement for a ‘signed writing’.
In film and television we usually talk about
1) the “underlying work,” such as a book, short story, comic book, etc.,
2) the script, and
3) the film or television production itself.
Not based on previous work, the ‘underlying work’ is considered to be original, and is copyrighted solely in the name of theauthor(s) or the company that commissioned it.Each subsequent work based on the original are ‘derivative works’, and therefore must be licensed from the original author(s).
If a script is based on a story, then the script is a ‘derivative work’, and your rewrite of the script is a derivative of a ‘derivative work’. To proceed, you would need to license the rights, with the help of an entertainment attorney, Los Angeles based, from both the original and the first script authors.
Coming to the second issue, the Copyright Act specifies that a ‘signed writing’ is needed to transfer rights, without providing any specific template. Electronic communication has brought issues regarding ‘signing’, too.The federal ESIGN Act clarifies this, making it a federal law, that digital signatures are considered to be as binding as paper signatures.
Often times, emails are ‘signed’ by the sending party, but they can be altered, which raises concern. Similarly, text messages, Facebook and Twitter posts areconsidered signed writing in some ways, but not expected to be formal contacts by the parties sending them.
The best advice is to be cautious, and never rely on an email or text message to be final disposition of the underlying rights. Every project has the potential to become valuable in the future. Have a formal contract drafted, or have an existing reviewed by the best entertainment lawyers in Los Angeles or New York like ours. It is not just the transfer of rights and the division of royalties and profits, but there are other legal issues that should be taken into account as part of a rights agreement.