2 years ago I was hired by a video production house to create several animations for an infomercial for Kaballah Center International, Inc. Since they were completed I've been showing them off as part of my portfolio. In early March I decided to expand the reach of my portfolio by setting up the video hosting part of it on YouTube. Last Thursday I received a Cease and Desist letter from their law firm, Wolff & Samson P.C., demanding that I remove the videos as I was infringing on Kaballah's copyright ownership.
As far as I knew it was perfectly legal to expect fair use of any work-for-hire production to be used as part of an artist's portfolio. My handy Graphic Artist Guild Pricing and Ethical Guidelines handbook said as much (11th edition, page 26, paragraph 7).
My first question is, am I correct? Do I, as a graphic artist, have the right to show work I've done for hire as part of my portfolio in order to promote my services and prove that I can do what I claim to be able to? What are the limits? Can I use a clip? Can I only use it on my site? Can I only use a screenshot? Can I even mention the client's name? It's going to be very difficult for visual artists to make a living if such restrictions are put on them.
Of course, because I was hired very loosely by the production company, there are no specifics in the contract I wrote up pertaining to this. I believe that unless specifically stated, that I am not allowed to show work as part of my portfolio, I have a reasonable expectation that fair use covers my right to use work I've done as part of my portfolio, and hence my self promotion.
My second question, which I'm sure is in limbo due to the explosion of social networks, is: can a social network such as YouTube (CGTalk, XPLSV.tv, Flickr, etc.) be considered an extension of an artists portfolio? The law firm has already contacted YouTube to ask that the videos be removed. I have also contacted YouTube to clarify what their stance is on this. In the meantime I've made the videos private, until such time as the matter is resolved.
I know there have been a great deal of lawsuits and C&D's flying around as everyone tries to figure out how new Internet technologies and social behaviors emerge and how it effects intellectual property from movies, to music, to images. There are currently two bills in Congress that would make any image that is online available to anyone to do as they will with (use in an ad, copyright themselves) if a "reasonable" search has been made, but proven to be unsuccessful, of the owner.
It seems to me that perhaps lawyers have no problem pursuing cases that are on shaky ground due to the inability of laws to keep up with technology. After all, they get paid for their time and the worst case scenario is that they will get paid even if they are judged incorrect, but still can claim that they were diligent. Like any legal matter, the ultimate winner is the lawyer!
I'll keep updating this entry until the issue is resolved. One way or the other I'm sure it'll be helpful to other visual artists.
p.s. Although I was told that the work would be for an infomercial only, the full video has been shown in various presentation formats and currently resides on the home page of http://tv.kabbalah.com.
I'll be honest--I wasn't that excited at the outset of Day 32. I'm not sure why. I was tired from the night before, and I think there was no small part of me that felt a little discouraged that we were about to shoot a scene that should have been done months ago, in a different location, the way that it was written. The fact is that the change of location came about only out of necessity and, while I thought it was a fun idea to move it from the Foster Kitchen to Mitch's office, it's still a bit frustrating when you have to do it a certain way because of other factors.
So here's what the scene was. Mitch comes home and finds food spread out all over the kitchen; Ally looking a little crazy. She reveals that all the healthy foods have been replaced by their junkier counterparts, and that over the course of weeks she has gained weight because of it. It's an important part of the competition between neighbors, and a funny scene to boot (especially because of an absurd Mitch line that--had it not existed--I might have lobbied to cut the scene altogether). Anyway we were about to shoot the scene in February, maybe a half hour away from starting, when our location was pulled out from under us. And so I said, "well perhaps it could work at Mitch's office, and make Ally look even crazier if she's brought in all this food and spread it across his desk."
Then two more things to debate. One, Jim's idea to have Ally walk in on Mitch talking with his young attractive intern, which would plant seeds of distrust in her mind. I thought it was too much, but Stacey liked the idea, so we figured it was worth trying. The second thing was do we shoot entirely in his office, or just open in his office and then move to the office cafeteria? Given that we had no extras, I thought the office made the most sense, but Rajah and Stacey both thought it better to move to a different location. I give you all this backstory to point out that: a) I think the scene worked even better in my new version at his office, because it gets us out of the houses a bit; b) Jim & Stacey were right adding the intern role--it does work towards character development very subtly, but it's there; c) of course Rajah & Stacey were right that the cafeteria was more dynamic, and in fact the wall against which we shot--as Stacey swore it would--looks awesome on film. Lemons to lemonade, and how refreshing it all was!
I was quickly surprised and very happy with how the shoot went, and I owe a lot of it to my team. Stacey & I came with Rajah and Maura, and we met up with Mark, Max, and our cast of Jim, Amy, and Val (playing the intern that we kinda named Rebecca afterwards). We set up and lit the cafeteria so it was good to go by the time the cast arrived (which may be a Bjort first!), and then shot the office part first.
We walked into the office which was even more bare than the last time we shot in it--no computer this time--although there was a blue water bottle on the desk with a Post-It on it that said "Poison Water Bottle." This would have struck me as more funny if I didn't know the story: bottles had been given out to employees, but then determined that they may be made of some mildly toxic material, so they cautiously recalled them. Either way, it's pretty funny to see that written on a Post-It on a water bottle.
We very quickly grabbed some office-y documents, put Jim & Val in their positions, and started shooting. It went great, I was really pleased with how naturally the scene played, and we brought Amy in to stand in the doorway and watch as Val exits. It was one line, very small movements and reactions--but it came off very very well. We even were able to block that dreaded thermostat with Amy's head (you're welcome, Rajah)! Kudos to all three performers who took a twenty-second scene and loaded it with subtle importance.
Then me and the Funshine Gang (as I named Stacey & Maura) walked out on the deck off the cafeteria and looked out on Boston on this rainy day. I believe Rajah had dreams of shooting the next Batman movie up there, and while I asked Max to write it that night, I don't believe he did write the next Batman movie that night. Meanwhile, Stacey read a book that was written by a doctor and his mother, which was goofily titled as such on the cover. We made fun of him and his mom a lot. Also there were lots of weird phrases that came up, such as "Max, please don't bleed in me today": Rajah's warning for Max to not repeat the basketball-related bloodshed he had endured the previous week. And my deck exclamation to the raining heavens, "Why you gotta drizzle all up in my piece?" which really did not sound very good at all. Oh, and there was a secret passageway in the cafeteria that I discovered and then entertained everybody by utilizing over and over again!
As you can see we were working very hard. Then everybody took food from the fridge, which you are on the honor system to pay for, but the cashbox wasn't there to leave money, so we threw the honor system out the window.
Oh, yes, back to the shooting. It was terrific. Simple shots, and great performances by Jim and Amy. I was smiling from ear to ear as I watched on the monitor, which is always a good sign. Of course the highlights were getting to hear Mitch say, "Abre los ojos, Ally!" our absurd line, and Ally constantly shoving a hot dog into Mitch's mouth. We went through a whole pack of hot dogs, and it was probably more fun than it should have been to terrorize Jim that way. By the last hot dog I got a take where he wasn't smiling as it was forced into his mouth. Again, silly, I know, but I liked it a lot. And Amy had hot dog juice to deal with after every take. Absolute pros these two.
In the end, we had a lot of fun, finished ahead of schedule, and I think the scene is going to be a memorable part of the movie. Also we didn't get kicked out which is always a nice change of pace!
Please be aware of and spread the word on this important bills now being presented to Congress: The Orphan Works Act of 2008 Bill # H.R.5889
The Shawn Bentley Orphan Works Act of 2008 Bill # S.2913
These bills effectively release creative work, whose authors or originators cannot be found, to use by anyone, including major corporations. This will allow large corporations to take advantage of the limited understanding of copyright law by artists, illustrators and other creatives. Essentially profiting from a large group of Americans that barely make a living with their work. The bills would require the authors of so-called "orphaned works" to go through extraordinary measures to digitally copy and submit their work the the copyright office. This doesn't just effect artists. If someone posts pictures of their baby on MySpace, then negleects to check their MySpace email, or signed up for the social network using a screen name rather than their real name, they could find those baby pictures being used for a multi-million dollar advertising campaign. I work for an ad agency and have just as much respect for the artists, photographers and designers who I work with as I do the budget limitations faced by companies trying to promote their products and services. This bill, however, amounts to legalized theft by big corporation of the property of the little guy.
Unfortunately these bills are being sponsored by Democrats ( Howard Berman D-CA 28th, Patrick Leahy D-VT) who should know better.
I'm sure your members would be very interested in this legislation.
It was dismal, rainy, cold and a Friday night. We were all tired from our work weeks, and I had forgotten how low the energy level is on our Friday night shoots. But it's real low. Add to that cold and rain, and you've got a recipe for disaster.
But the show must go on, and we had the advantage of yet again being hosted by the awesome Shalkoskis. Also I had Stacey, Mark, Maura, Rajah, Tony & Jim--Bjort MVPs--so what could go wrong? Well it did start raining, but we said, "bring it on!" Actually I think I said, "please God stop," but you get the point.
So we started with a dinner break--always good to start with--of pizza, beer, and not one but two kinds of Doritos. Jim spares no expense when we're at his house. He, Stacey, and Maura warmed themselves by the fire in the garage which was really a space heater next to a few pieces of wood wrapped in red strands of Valentine's Day decorations (unlit). What a bunch of weirdos. We were lucky, season-wise, that the scene is supposed to be taking place in early February and New England being as it is, we were able to see our breath outside, even though it was May.
Rajah and I planned out the most aesthetically pleasing areas to shoot but nobody liked them because of the non-February foliage that would be in every shot. Maura suggested we shoot by the fence, which ended up making perfect sense to show the neighborly rivalry. The scene is all about Mitch feeling threatened by the decorations Paul is putting up, so he brags about all of his elaborate Valentine's plans.
We set up a tent to house the camera and monitor, had a Tota (yay, Tota!!!) up on the deck under an umbrella, and got really good lighting. Maura and Stacey worked on the set decoration and made the fence extremely festive and red. While we went over Jim's script, it was dark enough that we needed to use Maura's glow-in-the-dark flashlight thing, which illuminated especially Jim's highlighted lines in an awesome glowing blue. And we felt like CSIs. Of course, usually when CSIs look under a blue light and see things glow, it's either blood or...something else. Which is how we decided we must be looking at the "shooting" script. Thank you, folks, I'm here all week.
So the actual shoot was great and seemingly effortless. Tony & Jim were really funny in the scene, and I really got the rivalry from their performances. It's amazing how much of the movie we've done by now and actually a lot of the competition scenes are those that we have left to do (given that it's a big part of the plot).
The boys did great, as always, and I think we all had a good time even though we were getting a little wet and the mic cords got muddy, and we had to move the light closer for tight shots so Mark and Maura traded off holding an umbrella over the light, and we had our fair share of bloopers, and Rajah was taking photos of himself lit by the Tota for an hour and a half, and Maura spent a good amount of time trying to take a decent picture of me which is a near impossible task, and Stacey was bummed out because she didn't feel like she was doing enough, and I decided not to slate which bothered Mark, and Tony had an exhausting day doing all of his many careers. So basically Jim had a good time. But he always does.
Seriously the shoot went very well, and my thanks to the cast, the crew, and the Shalkoskis for another awesome night.
So here's my report from the the set of This Side of the Truth, the new Ricky Gervais movie shooting in Lowell (written and directed by Ricky Gervais and Matt Robinson, starring Ricky Gervais, Jennifer Garner, Rob Lowe, Louis C.K., etc. I had a little part in a scene that shot last Friday.).I had 9:00 a.m. call, which was great (6:00 a.m. calls are not fun). I had a few bites of bacon 'n' eggs 'n' home fries before I was called in to hair and makeup. I was done with all that by 10:00, but my on-set call wasn't until 11:3o. So I popped over to my trailer (the "honeywagon") and got settled in.Now, the "rider" on my contract specifies some very extravagant amenities that I require if I am to perform at my best. The most important? Two bottles of Poland Springs water and an extra tiny sink (I like to feel giant in my trailer). And fancy paper towels that I think were made from sandpaper and rusty nails.I also require a very tiny piece of foliage in my trailer. I call it a tree and feel EXTRA giant. (seriously, this was in my trailer. I don't know why.) As I said, my on-set call wasn't until 11:30. They weren't actually ready for me until 12:30. So I hung out in my trailer with some weirdo. (But seriously, I was treated great by the ADs, PAs, wardrobe, and everyone else. Especially craft services...mmm...snacks...)
So, it was time to shoot. This was a short but big scene. Over 200 extras. The other actors in the scene were great. Remember the Seinfeld episode "The Pilot" where they're shooting the TV show? With a TV versions of George, Kramer, and Elaine? One of my cohorts was Elena Wohl, who played "TV Elaine". She was great to work with. Also in the scene were Nathan Corddry (real nice guy), who you might know from "The Daily Show", Roz Ryan (she sings in her trailer), and co-director Matt Robinson had a cameo. And, of course, Ricky Gervais (very funny--check out his blog at www.rickygervais.com/thissideofthetruth.php).
Shooting went well. A bit cold, though. We got most of the shots without any problems. But then the rain came. Back to the trailer for me. And lots of waiting. And drinking coffee. And chatting. And looking for good snacks because lunch wasn't until 4:00 and we were getting hungry. But mostly a lot of sitting in my trailer, hiding from the rain, staring at the wall. Which reminds me. ALWAYS bring a book or newspaper or crossword puzzle with you when you go to a shoot. I, of course, had not planned for this. So I stared at the wall. A lot. And listened to my belly rumble.The rain let up briefly, but Jennifer Garner had just popped by, so they shot a quick scene with her. I was in my trailer at the time, but I hear she did fine without me.
Finally it was lunchtime. At 4:00 (I think they call that dinner in some places). Yummo. And more rain. And more waiting. And then they sent me home without shooting anything else. Sort of anticlimactic, I know. All in all, I had a great time, met some great people, and can't wait to do it again.
Are looking to bring in some new faces on board of a current independent project, T.R.Y.B.E., that will be submitted to festivals and networks alike. But are currently looking for a (small) experienced crew personnell looking to donate their experience, or even to gain that experience being on set.
Grips, makeup, and someone with a panasonic DVX100-B camera that could make this shine. Have cinematographer on hand to film and the camera would be of a huge asset to the project for him to film!!
Enjoy Beanywood and the friends I've made online, so now let's roll in front of the camera.
