Film festival removes movie due to copyright infringement

Copyright infringement has the potential to carry serious consequences. The degree to which infringement takes place could result in a potential lawsuit, or discredit your company's reputation. On the other hand, if another party infringes on your intellectual property, it could also have a damaging effect on your business. For this reason it is important for companies to legally protect their assets. 

When the work of an artist, such as a song, is used to a create another work without permission, it may result in an infringement case. Whether or not this instance takes places within the borders of a single country may not always matter, because in certain cases copyright infringement can cross borders.

According to an article in the Hollywood Reporter, a film that had been entered in the Croatia's Pula Film Festival had to be take out of the competition. The film, which was made by Croatian film academy students was said to have used music without copyright permissions. It reportedly included music recording artists such as the Doors, Janis Joplin and David Bowie. 

As the article details, the film was taken out of the competition because of the infringement. The credits of the film did not include any mention of having obtained the rights to use the songs. 

This incident highlights the important point that copyrighted works cannot be used without obtaining the proper rights or permissions before doing so. Whether the new work being created is a film, website, product or anything else being used for commercial use, using materials without the necessary permissions could result in a lawsuit. 

Does your company know about intellectual property law? Contact a Phoenix, AZ small business attorney to find out how it affects you. 

Categorised in: Intellectual Property Law

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