I’ve recently had the chance to interview a lawyer who works in Intellectual Property law. Ned Mcleod is an attorney who works in Entertainment Law here in the Orlando area and I sought after him to discuss a case he worked on back in the mid 2000’s. The case was involving a dispute with Time Warner regarding their movie, The Perfect Storm. The movie was based upon a true story wherein fishermen, Billy Tyne and Dale Murphy, were lost at sea during a storm. McLeod worked for the family members of the fishermen, collectively known as “Tyne”, as they disagreed with the method by which their husbands/fathers were portrayed by the film. One of their main arguments was against the fact that the fishermen’s names were used in a commercial endeavor without any prior consent. However, the court interpreted the definition of “commercial” product to not include motion pictures, as they are not technically advertisements. McLeod and the Tyne family lost the case.
Speaking with McLeod in person, I’ve gotten a lot of insight into the situation that you typically miss in case documents. He has related his experience in talking with the daughters of the fishermen and how they endured people’s anger towards their father as a result of him being portrayed in a false light.
McLeod has many years of experience both in the film industry and working in law; so he knows the strategies and philosophies of both. He finds illogical the view, which dictates that a film in and of itself is not a commercial product. He’s pointed out that film companies will hold industry conventions wherein they are proud to host their films as commercial tools to promote their companies and any products associated with them; they openly consider the films marketing vehicles in the marketplace but not in the courtroom.
Since my videography will mostly be making revenue from the stories of people or by the use of their image, I’m prepared to take release forms for any and all people involved with my video products. For the most part, thankfully, any video I make will likely be commissioned by the person of whom it is about, so I should be able to avoid such issues as are reflected in this case.
It was very pleasant getting to meet the attorney in person; he was very interested in and glad about us making a presentation on his case. He had materials related to the case ready for my partner and I the moment we got there. He looks forward to a day when the laws will be clearer in describing films as commercial products and he seemed to hope that the issues of this case would eventually become better known.
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