John writes "I was talking to my friend tonight, who is the one who told me about this extreme copyright. He said that it was a fact, but they only enforce it when large companies, such as MGM, Warner Brothers, or some TV program shoot a scene of the San Diego skyline."
Near as I can tell, your friend is misinformed. References: http://www.swlearning.com/blaw/cases/rock_and.html http://advertisinglawyer.wld.com/news-mag-1999-02.htm Both of these reference the same case. Here's a more layman's view of the issue: http://www.cinematography.net/Pages%20DW/CopyrightingTheKnownUniverse.htm In general (note: I am not a lawyer), if you are not FEATURING a specific building, you are well within the law. If a building (such as a particular set of yellow arches) happens to be recognizeable, this is not the same thing as FEATURING that building. Although the law is often foolish on occasion, in this, they seem to be somewhat right-headed. "He said, that kind of thing they will enforce because Warner Brothers has deep pockets." Speaking wholly from my fanny, I would suspect that it's easier to charge a big company "greens fees" because a big company is happy to hemorrage cash around. "I e-mailed the district attorney of San Diego yesterday to see if this is all true or not." Note that there are plenty of people in the world (myself included) who will happily sell you a "license" to film the scenic San Diego skyline. I'll sel you a "license" to film the Brooklyn Bridge. Hell, I'll even "sell" you the Brooklyn Bridge. ;) "I think everyone would agree that you could not use video footage of a public business street with cars going back and forth, and people walking back and forth, and in the back ground are the golden arches and a big sign that says MacDonalds." Nope. Perfectly legal, although it's wise to try and get releases from recognizeable persons in the film. "MacDonalds would say that you violated their trademark and their copyright..." They might, but unless you are clearly FEATURING them, you could just as well politely inform them that they have no idea what they're talking about and toplease get out of your shot (assuming you had a city permit to film on the street and were doing so legally). searcher monkey, Edward -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Because sometimes, you just HAVE to make movies. http://www.Guerrilla-Productions.org/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Adobe-Premiere/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
