Re: Looking for sample licensing contracts

At 12:18 AM 10/7/95 -0700, Judith Szepesi <jszepesi[_at_]scuacc.scu.edu> wrote:
>
> I have a question about licensing issues with respect to
> copyrighted material.
>
> Specifically, a friend of mine is organizing a science fiction
> convention and wants to show software and movies that have SF
> themes. Is there a good source for sample licensing contracts?
> This is going to be a not-for-profit venture, and it's going to
> last one weekend, at most.

In general, this is best handled through the standard licensing that goes on all of the time.

If, by "movies", you mean real 16mm films, then the film rental place that you rent the films from is almost certainly going to rent it with a "public display" license, so you're covered.

If it's on videotape, it's more of a problem. The standard rental contracts are for private showings only, and the stuff copied from off the air isn't licensed at all, so you can use it for private use only, since that's considered fair use. In that case, you can ask the company which owns the rights to allow you to do it. Many, though not all, of the Japanese Anime companies are very willing to give you free licenses for these purposes. Also, there is at least one company, whose name I forget, but I can find out, which has made arrangements so that you can get a single license which covers weekend showings of the stuff from many, though not all, companies - the total cost for a weekend con for about 1000 people was a few hundred dollars for the license.

In any case, you're basically at their mercy - they have their standard form contracts, and aren't particularly amenable to much negotiation unless you're big enough to be a special case. Which means at least in the 5-10K range, and a national draw.

I'm not a lawyer, and this isn't legal advice. It's based on a few decades of running science fiction conventions, but you should consult an appropriate attorney if you want legal advice.

Ben

Ben Yalow                                  ybmcu[_at_]panix.com