Have you ever heard the term “obtaining clearances” or “clearing the rights?”  Whether or not you have heard either of these terms, a quick brush-up is probably in order.

Let’s start at the beginning.  Rights to what you might ask? Rights to the intellectual property of others would be the correct answer.  The owners of creative works have many exclusive rights in their property and you don’t want to violate any of them.

In an average day you probably encounter the results of the public use of the intellectual property of others at least hundreds if not thousands of times.  And, you probably aren’t even aware of it. For example, the music that you hear on the radio or on your ipod, for example, is owned by many people.  There are lyricists, composers, singers, publishers, instrumentalists and potentially even others who have a claim to the exclusive rights to use their recording, live performance or even the sheet music.

Walk down the street and notice how many Coca-Cola signs you see; how many Toyota nameplates you view on the cars around you; and, how many products you either use or purchase that are from well known manufacturers.  Note the designation ® on all of them which indicates that they are officially registered trademarks in the US Patent and Trademark Office. Any infringement of these rights entitles the legal owner to sue to enforce their exclusive ownership and to potentially obtain damages and attorneys fees from the infringer.

Clearing the rights to the intellectual property of others can be very complex and have significant monetary consequences to your budget.  Clearing the rights then, means obtaining  the permission of the owners of intellectual property to use their creative work in your motion picture, your still photo’s, your advertising material and so on.

There are many variations in the type of permission that you can obtain including the following:

1. Is the permission being sought and granted exclusive or not?
2. Is the permission geographically limited (only the use in the US will be permitted)?
3. Is the permission time limited (you can only use the creative work for 6 months)?
4. Is the permission limited by medium (you can only put my trademark in your still photos and not in your motion picture)?
5. Is the permission free or must I pay for the rights to use your intellectual property (the right to use my copyrighted piece of art in the background of your interior shot will cost you $1,500)?

The right to use the intellectual property of another is called a license, and in order to protect your financing source, protect your distributor, and to appease your errors and omissions insurance policy company, you need to obtain a license in every event of the use of another’s work. There are some exceptions to this general rule, but seek legal advice to assure yourself of the proper use of this property before you start to produce your project. Avoid “ready, fire, aim” at all costs!

Make sure that your agreements specifically define the rights that you are getting and paying for, and have been well thought through.  Otherwise, you could be faced with the prospect of paying significantly more for rights that you should have obtained initially.

Just as you are the expert in producing your film, use an expert who understands rights and permissions to resolve these important issues before it’s too late.