Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Massachusetts

I recently discovered a vhs tape of a stand-up comedy shot that I shot in 1993 at a Comedy Club. I was given permission by the comedy club to tape it as I was one of the comedians performing that night. I recently viewed the video again for the first time in almost 30 years....and 2 of the comedians who performed as well that evening went on to achieve some pretty significant success in both Stand-Up and Film. One of them has since passed away. Somebody approached me about the possibility of obtaining footage of that his stand-up comedy performance from 1993 which I have on my VHS tape. I was asked if I was the "Sole Rights Holder "of the material and.....I have no idea. Hoping somebody can share a little insight. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!


Asked on 4/02/20, 9:39 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Lawrence Graves Coolidge & Graves PLLC

Your tape is yours, and copyright attached to it as a matter of law, so you can represent that you are the sole copyright owner. However, the individual performers might have rights of publicity that would inhibit public display, copying or distribution of the tape. Distribution to another performer for his own use is fine, the more so if you extract his performance from the entire work.

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Answered on 4/03/20, 4:36 am


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