Considerations for commercial educational video

Hi, during the slow periods when there's been time to compile "Best of" DVDs I've put together what has been loosely coined the "incomplete visual guide to Palau's marine fauna" A Fish ID DVD. It is nearing completion (in an incomplete way) and I am considering approaching some of the local vendors of all things touristy, museums, other tour operators, hotel gift shops etc. with a view of getting it on the shelves for purchase.

What I'd like to pick peoples brains about is the necessary legal aspects of this sort of endevour, contracts, copyrights etc

Who's been there and done that before and what did they do....?

Many thanks

Richard

Licenses for music and releases for models are the first thing to cross my mind. Aussiejosho has a similar ID DVD for Fiji. Hopefully he'll chime in here.

Hi Richard, I don't know about Palau copyright law but if there is one and if it's anything like most other countries then you have copyright of your material without doing anything. It's automatic. Having said that it is possible to register copyright in some countries (USA, UK etc.) which may give you some extra protection.

I have a DVD, "Reef Life of the Andaman" that is on sale in dive shops in Phuket. I don't have a written contract with any of them and have not really seen a need to have one and contracts can intimidate vendors. We keep it simple. We suggest a retail price but they are free to lower or raise it if they wish. Those who buy up front get a slightly better trade price than those who carry it "on consignment" (pay after they sell). The shops get a visit now and then for invoicing and re-stocking. Many shops are much more willing to take it on a consignment basis where they have nothing to lose other than a little display space, rather than commit up-front and risk having stock they can't sell.

If they have a TV set or spare computer then burn them a nice looper which autoplays and goes around and around all day so they don't have to restart it themselves every hour.

If you have confidence in selling a good number then go and get them properly replicated. We still burn/test/print/pack our own but it's time-consuming and there are still occasional coasters so we wish we'd gone for mass replication. If you go for mass replication then you can add some copy protection (Macrovision etc.), usually at an extra cost. The DVD can still be ripped but it takes a bit more effort. Part of the reason we didn't go for mass replication was that we couldn't find a trustworthy, reliable replicator here in Thailand and were concerned about excessive customs charges if we imported them. If you print your own then the Canon printers that do discs (iP4500, iP5200 etc.) are way more reliable than the Epson ones. Use good discs such as Verbatim DVD+R or Taiyo Yuden DVD-R.

When we were approaching retailers we made a bunch of promo samples, clearly printed as such, and occasionally during the promo there is crawling text: "This is a sample copy, not for resale or display. Order or license from Bubble Vision, Phuket, Thailand. email: XXXXX tel: XXXXX Thank you".

We also let a version out onto liveaboard dive boats around here and that one has this crawling text: To purchase a copy of this DVD, please see your dive center, call XXXXX or visit www.bubblevision.com".

We also got some display stands made out of clear acrylic. They carry 2 side by side with a space above for graphics.

As our source footage was PAL we sell 2 versions of the DVD (PAL & NTSC) and label them differently. That complicates things substantially but I wanted Europeans/Aussies/Thais/Russians/Chinese etc to be able to see the original PAL quality. If your source footage NTSC then just stick with NTSC which will play anywhere.

Oh, one more thing, make the "first play" item on the DVD a disclaimer that cannot be bypassed by the DVD remote buttons. But don't make it too long. Just a few seconds. Our wording is "The recording, copying, ripping, loan, unauthorised hire, public showing or broadcasting of this DVD is prohibited. Showing to promote scuba diving requires a licence from Bubble Vision" . However I am seriously thinking of the following wording for my next production, as suggested by John Cline on the Sony Vegas forum:

"I worked very hard on this disc. PLEASE don't copy it! Besides, doing so would be bad karma".

Good luck!

This is certainly very valuable information, thankyou for your feedback

All the best

Richard

We're just about to get "Sharks in British Sea" glass mastered and get it out into retail outlets within the next few weeks so here's my experience to date.

As Nick said retailers will often take the DVDs on a sale and return basis with more enthusiasm than they would by paying up front for stock. Where retailers do take stock up front we normally give them a bigger discount, especially if they take a good number.

Make sure you have the licenses and permission to use all the music, footage and other materials that you've used in addition to any model releases.

Just to back up previous comments I'd definitely go for Macrovision or similar copy protection - for example a year or so ago I spotted some of Mark Thorpe's (Camdiver) DVDs being sold on ebay. They had been copied and were obviously being sold without permission. Mark sorted it very quickly, but it does happen so be as safe as you can. In the UK the cost of Macrovision protection is negligible compared to the potential costs of illegal copying. Obviously if someone is really determined then there is nothing you can do about it....

....and finally be prepared to get completely ripped off. Recently a colleague spotted what he thought was a brand new shark film in a major UK high street retailer. It turned out that it was a repackaged version of an old film that had been sold to the retailer without any permission whatsoever from the film copyright owner. In fact on the packaging info he didn't even get a mention, although the credits on the film were intact as the film itself had not been altered in any way. It turns out that the publisher and distributer had already gone bust and run off with the cash before anyone noticed. If this happens in the UK with the copyright protection here then god knows what happens in other parts of the world. So get a good media lawyer lined up!

Good luck!

Cheers, Simon

Simon's right, prepare to be ripped off. I have been a few times and I just had footage from my DVD used in a TV advert without permission.

I was under the impression that Macrovision is really easy to get past but this RipGuard sounds like it might be better. Anyone used it?

Simon's right, prepare to be ripped off. I have been a few times and I just had footage from my DVD used in a TV advert without permission.

yeah but you have a really good enforcer/spy.

yeah but you have a really good enforcer/spy.

You offering again Drew?

You can also add a watermark with a low opacity just as the broadcast channels do. Clear and whitish so it doesn't intrude and interrupt upon your viewer's pleasure. Then any company trying to rip off your footage will be stuck with the watermark as well.

Steve

You can also add a watermark with a low opacity just as the broadcast channels do. Clear and whitish so it doesn't intrude and interrupt upon your viewer's pleasure. Then any company trying to rip off your footage will be stuck with the watermark as well.

... unless they simply zoom the footage to crop it out, like what just happened to me.

Hey Nick,

How you getting on with that !!!???

Dive safe

DeanB

Hey Nick,

 

How you getting on with that !!!???

 

Dive safe

 

DeanB

Waiting to see if they pay my invoice by the deadline. Then get the lawyer onto them.

Waiting to see if they pay my invoice by the deadline. Then get the lawyer onto them.

You go sister !!!...

Those cheeky buggers

Dive safe

DeanB

Hi,

and so it's done, after far too long and many re-edits, tests, re-edits, restructuring, 150+ menus and nearly 1000 transitions and links it's ready and it's on the shelves at local retailers.

Can't believe it took this long to complete but looking back it was a project for the slow periods, everything was done in-house and I took much wisdom from you guys, thanks for all your help.

Richard

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=3769...mp;id=664416211

Congratulations Richard! Did you get a batch replicated or are you burning and printing your own?

Thanks Nick, doing everything myself, helps keep the costs down!

Richard

Anybody have suggestions for distributors, UK and US?

Also DVD replicators in the UK who do Macrovision?

Cheers

Richard

Well done Richard, it takes a lot of work to make them and to get to the end product.

I would suggest you get them glass pressed as burning them at home or on a duplicator can be abit hit and miss.

Also Zone free is best other wise you have to have different types of Zones ones made meaning more cost...besides it easy to get around.

As for the extra cost for Macrovision, its also pretty easy to get around.... why bother.

Distributors can be good but they take over your product, you get like $1 for each sale but they may sell lots more than what you can.

Yeah well done, I agree with Wags, get them professionally burnt and you should be able to get them for around $2.00 and that includes the DVD, Printing on both the slick and the disk, the box and cello wrapping.

Jon

Yeah well done, I agree with Wags, get them professionally burnt and you should be able to get them for around $2.00 and that includes the DVD, Printing on both the slick and the disk, the box and cello wrapping.

 

Jon

After trying to do 'everything' myself (time consuming just is not the word) I get my Discs burnt and printed professionally. I still do the insets myself, well until I get massive orders (he says with hope). I had 4 returns out of 55 so not bad however I found the finish quality on my purchased discs using my Canon pritner not to be as good as the Pro's version.

Dive safe

DeanB