What is a decent video contract for live performances?

David Doggett · Posted 3 Oct 2007 3:53 pm

I’m trying to figure out how to handle contracts for videos of our live performances. Anybody have any advice on how these are usually arranged? In the past we have been involved in several different scenarios:
1. We arrange to have someone video us and provide an edited version for a set fee. We failed to specify pre-approval rights, and ended up having to pay for a video that was so bad we tossed it. There was probably nothing of value there, but we were never able to get the unedited version to see.
2. We play a festival and they make a video of us. The video wasn’t mentioned in the performance contract. They say they have all the rights to it. It is not clear what they will do with it or if we will ever see any of it. We asked to have our own photographer to do a video we control. The festival refused to let us do that.
3. Someone asks to do some video of us in a club performance. We say okay with no written contract. We are never given a copy of the shoot.

I don’t think any of this stuff from the past is worth anything to the people who shot it, and they don’t seem to be going to ever do anything with it. Just out of curiosity I would like to see it. We might be able to take some of the best moments and piece them together into something we could sell, or at least some sample clips to put on our web site or use for demos in getting club and festival gigs. But they are always “too busy” to make a copy for us.

So my question is, what does a decent video contract look like? And how do we guarantee that they at least give us a copy of the raw footage so we can see the results and decide what to do with it?

David Doggett · Posted 4 Oct 2007 9:43 am

Any advice or suggestions?

Donny Dennis · From: Atlanta, Texas

You might want to take a look at the web site below. Hope this helps but the best advice I can give you is to hire an attorney to write up a contract that includes everything that you want. Also, a good attorney will include some things that you might not think of.

http://www.outersound.com/osu/touring/live.html

Donny

Gordy Hall · From: Fairfax, CA.

David,

As someone who has done many music videos, there are of course many different situations.

Sometimes I get paid to do a shoot and produce videos from the result. To do it right takes a lot of time and equipment. For instance, I need to take my equipment to the gig, set it all up, tape it, (usually with an outside sound source), then put it in the computer and edit it. The usual time frame for doing a single set with two cameras is about 15 hours of work, and the processing time on computer can be at least that, especially when making and authoring a DVD.

I have often done a great job on the video, but the band sucked, or didn't like the way they looked and sounded, and they didn't want to pay me. I wasn't about to give them the 'raw footage', and I seldom agree to do that.

Video is a great promotion tool, but seldom can you make money from the results unless you have faithfull fans willing to buy any product you put out.

I have done many 'volunteer' shootings, which entails just as much time and effort, because I like the music, or feel it should be archived.

Depending on the desires of the band, etc., I charge anywhere from $300 to $1000 per set. I have never worked with a contract, but just by agreeing to shoot and edit to the best of my ability what happens in front of the cameras.

You can see some of my work at http://www.youtube.com/gordyoproductions

Hope this helps somehow answer your questions.

Gordy

David Doggett · Posted 5 Oct 2007 11:51 am

Thanks, Gordy. But your response raises as many questions as it answers. Years ago I was a free lance still photographer. Of course I kept all the negatives. But I gave customers proofs of all the shots (contact sheets or small prints), so they could see what was there. The digital age has changed that.

The equivalent of the old negatives is now the smart card, drive, or whatever the camera uses to record the original images. Of course the photographer keeps that. But it literally takes only a few minutes to make a complete copy of all the raw footage. If I contract someone to shoot us, I want a gaurantee we get a copy of that. I would want to pay them for the shoot and that copy, and we would control all rights to it. If we decided to make a product from it, I would then want to pay a second fee to the photographer, or some other editor of our choosing, to make an edited version. I would want a two tier payment schedule for that: 1) a small, expenses-only payment for their time on that; 2) if we approve it, either another payment, or a percentage, or both in order to use the edited version as a product, and we would control all rights on that. This kind of arrangement would seem to be fair to eveyone.

On the other hand, if someone comes to us and says they want to make a video of us that they control, then we would have a contract that gives us a lump payment up front, or a percentage, or both. But we may or may not have any approval rights, depending on the negotiated contract. And they would have all the rights to finished products.

But what about festivals and clubs that make their own videos or audio recordings? Anyone know how to deal with that situation? These days most festival sound guys, and many in clubs, make their own recordings, with or without asking us. Even if no product is ever made from it, I would usually like to have a copy of the raw footage, just for the educational benefit of being able to see or hear our performance. And of course it might be nice to use clips for demos or samples on our web site. But these recordings seem to go into a black hole, and it is almost impossible to ever get to see or hear any of it.

Thomas Stanley · From: Tennessee, USA

David, regarding the festivals, you need to look at the original contract to determine what rights the promoter has. If the contract is silent about his right to video your performance then I would argue that your band has the right to its performance and images.
You could go to small claims court and file a breach of contract action or trespass (on your rights)to have them turn over to you the goods. It doesn't cost much and there are no lawyers.
In the future, insert a paragraph in the contracts that your group maintains all rights to any audio/video/photographic images of your performance and any use of them without your expressed written approval is a breach of the agreement and subjects them to $ xxxx as liquidated damages.

Good luck. Tom
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David L. Donald · From: Koh Samui Island, Thailand

Yes they have no right to use your images
for their video without your consent,
even to promote next years festival,
UNLESS it was in the contract the band signed.

Your image is totally separate from their
use of your sound in the concert.

The same goes for using a recording of your audio
in a compilation CD of the festival.
They must have a contract with you,
AND all the songwriters of EVERY song that they use.

If you band was shot live to do a 'work for yourselves',
you needed to have approval
and access to raw footage, better yet state that
YOU are the owners of all footage.
Pay for the reels used.

Pay for set up and early shooting fees.
And hope they have it right.
Better yet; look at some tests before the night
is fully in gear; like sound check.
It's pretty clear if the lighting
and camera technique is crap before you start.
You can pull the plug and pay them off partially,
if they are really incompetent.

All goes well, still get access to
pre-edit viewing for approval,
before the editor goes to too much trouble
on bad footage.

I know how I feel when someone doesn't like end product,
because something at the shoot was very bad,
and then they blame the editor who slaved trying
to make a pigs ear out of of a pigs rear;
No silk purse possible.
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