Richard Dickinson
· Richard is the head of Bristows’ Commercial & Transactional IP group. His practice focuses on commercial transactions and advisory work that usually involve the development, exploitation and protection of IP rights at their core, across a range of sectors.
· Richard has a scientific background and has also worked on secondment with in-house legal teams, both as an associate and as a partner.
2 Contributions by Richard Dickinson
PRACTICE NOTES
Copyright for UK film and television productions: clearing and licensing underlying works; scripts, adaptations, characters, music and photographs; performers’ rights; and relying on fair dealing and other permitted acts
This Practice Note
This note addresses copyright concerns in film and television, relating to the underlying materials encountered throughout the production process. It spans literary creations such as scripts, biographies, characters, set and location design, photographs, music, and performances. It also explores permitted acts or statutory exceptions that might apply when different works appear within a film—including fair dealing, incidental inclusion, reporting court proceedings, filming in public places, and matters of public interest. When a new film or television programme is made, numerous distinct copyright works will make up the finished piece, depending on the nature of the project, eg a drama or a factual documentary. It examines several of the usual underlying works integrated into screen productions. Certain of these works will not automatically vest in the production company creating the film, so it is vital to obtain either an assignment or a licence for works generated during the production process, granting rights consistent with the planned scope of exploitation. Aligned fully with the intended scope of exploitation for the project concerned. For earlier, pre-existing works, producers may prefer to secure a licence, or rely upon one of the exceptions to copyright found in Chapter III of the Copyright,...
TMT
PRACTICE NOTES
United Kingdom copyright in films and television programmes: subsistence, authorship, term and revival across CA 1911, 1956 and CDPA 1988; qualification and related rights (soundtracks, broadcast right and moral rights)
For copyright purposes, the term ‘film’ denotes a recording, on any medium, from which a moving image may by any method be generated. A television programme is protected as a film for these purposes, and the definition is intended to be technology-neutral. This Practice Note examines the copyright protection conferred on films and television programmes themselves as copyright works, and Practice Note: Copyright in film and television: making a new film explores certain matters concerning the types of works (dramatic, literary, musical and artistic works) known as the ‘underlying rights’ that a producer may need to create or be required to licence during the course of making a new film or television production. The legal issues relating to television formats are not dealt with in this Practice Note; instead, see Practice Note: Television format rights.
Copyright in films
The general position is that the subsistence of copyright in existing films depends on the date of their creation and is determined by the law in force when the film was made. The ‘author’ is the first owner of the copyright in a film and is likewise identified in accordance with the law then in force. That determination follows the prevailing law...
TMT
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