I have been thinking about how I can continue as a director and continue creating collaborative work during this pandemic. I’ve been experimenting with ideas around virtual communication and have been thinking about how I could direct via webcam/ mobile cameras etc.
Advice from Ruth Burstall and Iona Silverman from global leading law firm Baker McKenzie, talking to Navaz Batliwalla on the intricacies of image rights and ownership in the digital age; the difficulties of protecting digital images; use/misuse of images and advertising / commercialising products on social media.
- 10 years ago the iphone had just been invented, it’s been a decade of enormous technological change and new business models have been evolving in that time.
- Usage and image rights.
- Social Media – an extension of your own space / headspace.
- Professional commercialised content.
- The distinction between an idea and something you have copyright in. You have to create something.
- Blockchain – distributed ledger technology (cryptocurrency and bitcoin) developed these systems to allow people to exchange this bitcoin without the need for an intermediary such as a bank. Use this technology to log when an image is created and tracking the ownership of that image.
- Watermarking.
- Permission from the people / subjects in images and other artworks in backgrounds etc.
This session got me thinking more about branding myself and creating work with with a strategy and purpose in mind. I’m curious as to who would own the image if I produced a body of work that was technically shot by the model/actor/participant on their own webcam/ phones but I was the one who conceptualised the idea and conducted all pre production and post production. I emailed Roxanne to get some clarification and was happy to get a detailed answer to my question.
