Gathering and Waiving Rights – Ask An Entertainment Lawyer
Gathering and Waiving Rights – Introduction Today we will look at gathering and waiving rights; from the inception of an idea, through its evolution into a film, producers of film and television must gather all the intellectual property rights in their productions. A producer acquires these rights by entering into contracts with the various people […]
Quitclaims – A Creative Legal Tool
Introduction to Quitclaims Quitclaims are legal tools used by producers and creators to ensure that someone or something has given up certain rights in a property. For example, say you are a producer and a great script lands on your desk (or inbox). The creator tells you that it was previously developed by another producer […]
Online Concert Licensing and Royalties – Part 2
The Rights of Online Concerts: This is the second blog about online concert licensing and royalties. In the first blog, I provided a chart that summarized some licensing considerations for online concerts based in Canada. This blog introduces three rights that presenters require with respect to the compositions being performed at commercial online concerts. […]
Being a Musician is a Business (The 25-Year Reversion Rule)
The 25-Year Reversion Rule – Introduction The 25-Year Reversion Rule – Musician Bryan Adams’ arrived in Ottawa on September 18, 2018 to address the House of Commons heritage committee on Canada’s Copyright Act. As more detailed below, our copyright law provides for a reversionary interest in a creators’ copyright 25 years after his or her […]
Video Game Copyright Considerations
Video Game Copyright Mark Edwards was interviewed by the CBC for an article about video game copyright considerations in the context of Donut County and Hole.io. The following is additional commentary about the relevant questions for game development companies: What’s the difference between another developer ripping off your idea versus being inspired by it? This […]
Copyright Protection & Classical Music
Copyright Protection & Classical Music Copyright protection & classical music is a widely searched topic. You may be wondering what it (copyright protection) does, well, copyright protection covers original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works of authorship. This is during the lifetime of the author, the remainder of the calendar year in which the author […]
Ask a Lawyer: Digital Games and Copyright
Mark Edwards, Lawyer, Edwards PC, Creative Law Here’s a very practical introduction to copyright in video games — what you, as a game developer, need to know. It will come as no surprise that your game is a combination of many elements. At a minimum, these include a computer program, static and animated graphics, and a description […]
Virtual Reality in Gaming and Derivative Works : Ask a Lawyer
Virtual Reality in Gaming and Derivative Works – Introduction It’s a time of rapid technological change. As a gamer, I am very excited to see the game industry move to Virtual Reality (VR) and its much more immersive gaming experience. While technology might be changing, copyright law is not. If your VR project involves creating […]
