Legal Question in Entertainment Law in California
Who holds rights to a person's image after they are deceased?
If someone consented to be filmed for
the purposes of a documentary (and
that is very clear in the footage), but
passed away before the personal
release form was obtained, what is the
next step? Do I have to get a spouse's
signature, a child's signature, or is the
footage enough evidence to prove that
he consented to the filming and
subsequent use of his image in the
film?
Thank you very much for your help.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Who holds rights to a person's image after they are deceased?
The answer depends on what the deceased person said on camera, and more to the point, who you have to satisfy. If you are only worried about getting sued by his survivors, maybe the filmed consent is enough. If you have to satisfy some other, risk-averse entity such as a distributor, TV network or purchaser, maybe it won't be. The answer also depends on the context of what was said. It would be one thing if the clip is of one of many eyewitnesses to a newsworthy event. It might be quite another if the footage is central to the documentary, for example if the documentary is a biography of the individual. Again depending on how important it is to your production I would make every effort to get permission, or at the very least I would gather evidence tending to show that you tried.
Related Questions & Answers
Looking for something else?
10,200 active attorneys ready to answer your legal questions today.
Featured Attorneys
Earn additional revenue and grow your business.
