ABSTRACT
Archive footage might work, or a news article or maybe it's a police surveillance camera. Copyright not only protects filmmakers from people reproducing their work but from piracy as well. There can be ways we can use original video or film, or photography or any image under a different class of copyright law that may make it free for us. There is a complicated licensing process for musical works as they have two forms of copyright. Sync rights for the words and music composition, and master recording rights for the actual recording of the piece. One of the best guides to understand the parameters in using third-party material has been produced by The Center for Media & Social Impact, based at American University's School of Communication in Washington, DC. Personal releases, location releases, third-party materials releases— we have included examples.
