As a filmmaker dealing with issues of copyright is core part of the job description. Whether it’s the use of music by a band or singer in your film, the signing of release forms or exertion of your own copyright over the work you make, a grounded understanding of copyright principles is crucial as part of professional practice.

The Australian Copyright Council is a non-profit organization setup to provide copyright information and advice, particularly to artists. Their website http://www.copyright.org.au/ is a fantastic resource of clear and concise info on Copyright principles and how they effect you. On the site you’ll find a wide range of downloadable documents that spell out specific considerations on copyright and particular contexts. It’s a site well worth knowing about and having bookmarked.

In particular one of the things I have been asked about a number of times is ‘how’ you exert your copyright over your film. The answer is simple, you don’t need to. This from the Copyright Council site:

• “You do not apply for copyright in Australia, and there is no system of registration here. Nor are there any forms to fill in, or fees to be paid.
• You do not need to publish your work, put a copyright notice on it, or do anything else before your work is covered by copyright – the protection is free and automatic, from the time a work is first written down or recorded in some way. For example, as soon as a poem is written, or a song is recorded, it is protected.”

So putting the words ‘Copyright Joe Blogs 2008’ at the bottom of a script or the end of a film has no bearing at all on the legal copyright and is unnecessary. But as the site also says “it does remind people that the work may be protected. It also lets people know who is claiming copyright.” So it’s not a bad idea, it’s just not a legally binding one. Your copyright exists fully regardless of wether you put a copyright notice on it.

Of course then the question becomes how do you protect your copyright? And there are some simple guidelines to follow detailed on the site.

• If you are concerned that you might at some stage need to prove you own copyright in something you have
• created, any of the following procedures might help you ensure that you have some relevant evidence:
• • keep dated drafts, plans, and outlines of the work;
• • keep dated records of research done in creating the work;
• • keep recordings of different stages of development (for example, with songs, music or choreography);
• • discuss the work with others, and/or show drafts or finished versions to others;
• • keep written records of any agreements you make concerning creation of material or ownership of copyright
• in material.

Of course for non-Australian students Copyright law can vary. Most developed countries recognize each other’s copyright parameters and there is a great deal of consistency from one country to another but you should defiantly check with similar organizations in your home country to be clear on specific issues.