Legal Question in Entertainment Law in California

Who holds rights to a person's image after they are deceased?

If someone consented to be filmed for

the purposes of a documentary (and

that is very clear in the footage), but

passed away before the personal

release form was obtained, what is the

next step? Do I have to get a spouse's

signature, a child's signature, or is the

footage enough evidence to prove that

he consented to the filming and

subsequent use of his image in the

film?

Thank you very much for your help.


Asked on 6/30/06, 11:25 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Michael Stone Law Offices of Michael B. Stone Toll Free 1-855-USE-MIKE

Re: Who holds rights to a person's image after they are deceased?

The answer depends on what the deceased person said on camera, and more to the point, who you have to satisfy. If you are only worried about getting sued by his survivors, maybe the filmed consent is enough. If you have to satisfy some other, risk-averse entity such as a distributor, TV network or purchaser, maybe it won't be. The answer also depends on the context of what was said. It would be one thing if the clip is of one of many eyewitnesses to a newsworthy event. It might be quite another if the footage is central to the documentary, for example if the documentary is a biography of the individual. Again depending on how important it is to your production I would make every effort to get permission, or at the very least I would gather evidence tending to show that you tried.

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Answered on 7/01/06, 2:47 am


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