What Is A Life Rights Agreement
20. Dezember 2020
My client also wants to ensure that this agreement would not prevent anyone from making a film or television production based on the story of the subject`s life. The filmmaker or producer should have the right to fictionalize or change the names of the characters. It would also be advantageous to obtain the freedom of the subject`s family members or others who might be an integral part of the project. If this is not possible, a provision allowing the filmmaker or producer to change characters would give them flexibility and prevent problems that could derail the entire project. At the same time, there are cases where even trying to negotiate for the rights of life and not being able to reach an agreement can harm the future of your film. „Life rights can be very difficult to obtain,“ says Callif. „When the person is alive or has an estate, they often want permission rights, which can make it very difficult for the filmmaker to make the film he wants to make. When you start negotiating life rights, it is difficult because they are personal. I rarely come across, if that is the case, a case where someone simply grants the rights of life without wanting any permission – and they can stop a project; If you negotiate for these rights and you don`t get them, it could be very difficult to get error and abandonment insurance.
The risk increases for the carrier E-O; Even if you still have that legal right, an E-O carrier will look at that risk and say, „This is too high a risk for us. You can`t negotiate, or they said no, and now you`re going to try to make this movie? We do not want to insure that. But many narratives are in nuanced details and things that are not necessarily facts, how they feel about each other or how they fell in love. To discover this information, it would be really useful to be able to talk to the happy couple. This is where the rights of life come into play. The rights of life not only give them permission to tell your vision of the story, but it also means that your subject gives his blessing for you to tell it.