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CMAT and Company Operations

Team's Manual

Curriculum

Welcome to CMAT and Company

Legal Issues in Multimedia Production

(See also: How to request Copyright Authorization, Copyright Notes  and Copyright Law.)

It is vital that students understand the legal consequences of putting content into print’ in a multimedia product Laws regarding copyright and fair use are extremely strict, but hard to define A whole new area of litigation is involved with Web design and cyberspace rights For professionals this can be a nightmare-involving huge expenditures of time, money . and resources-that can hold back production during court investigations and proceedings.

Students should also be concerned about standardization issues governing multimedia since these are observed in the workplace as well

Legal issues and standardization conventions are vital to the lawful production arid distribution of multimedia tides. An otherwise remarkable product may be marred and headed for litigation simply by the inclusion of material for which no permission was granted Standardization conventions need to be followed because they create an ease of use characteristic of methods and formats necessary for team access.

The following terms should be familiar to students and used appropriately when producing multimedia:.

Trademarks - registered logos and text that identify an owner

Logos - a symbol, frequently trademark, that identifies an owner

     Patents - grants by U S government of monopoly for a limited period of time.

     Copyrights - monopoly for a longer period of time - usually lifetime plus 50 years.

                Reproduction rights/licensing rights issues:.

Unauthorized use

Royalty fees and rates

Documented proof for use

Performance and talent releases

     Copyright infringement - the unauthorized use of copyright material.

              Test for infringement:

Is it copyrighted?

Is it an obvious variation of the original?

Does the infringer have access to the original?

Is there fair use?

Is there a patent involved?

For what will it be used?

       Public domain - commonly known and used by the general public. (Software that may   be used by the general public without license or authorization.)

       Intellectual property - what the mind produces. Areas for which multimedia producers and publishers are responsible include reproduction rights, permissions, and copyrights.

       Contract - agreement of terms for an expected outcome - includes all related issues.

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