BUSINESS AFFAIRS & RIGHTS
The zoom-in Television Pr
In this and future issues of zoom-in we examine the commercial, legal
and regulatory hoops that programme-makers have to jump through
to get their programmes safely to air. Our production legal schedule
above sets out the five key stages of production which producers need
to consider and the advice and expertise they are likely to need at
each stage. In each issue, we focus on one or two particular aspects of
production legal requirements. In the Autumn edition of zoom-in, we
focussed on option agreements and error & omissions insurance. In this
issue, we focus on access agreements and title searches and opinions.
Access agreements
n Invariably access agreements are
necessary where programme-makers
want to film with companies and organisations, for example when making
observational documentaries. Whether
it’s filming within a hospital; an educational establishment; alongside the
emergency services; with a local council or with organisations like the CPS,
Trading Standards, or HMRC; or filming within a commercial organisation
like a department store, airport, or su16 | zoom-in Winter 2016
permarket chain – it is vital to nail down
the terms of the access agreement right
at the start, and certainly before filming
begins.
Any organisation granting access
will be looking to control carefully the
terms of access being granted, and will
be seeking certain contractual assurances. At the same time, production companies need to ensure that the access being
granted is sufficient to enable them to
produce and deliver the programme or
series they are being commissioned to
make. A good access agreement should
anticipate the likely issues that will arise
over the course of filming and put in
place procedures for dealing with them.
There are various issues to consider
when negotiating access arrangements,
and production companies should always seek expert advice before starting
to negotiate access arrangements. Some
important issues include:
Rights. Access agreements should
be explicit about who owns rights in
the footage. Invariably it will be the
production company but this should be
made clear. Underlying rights may also
be an issue. Where it is anticipated that
the programme will include copyright
works belonging to the body granting
the access e.g. archive, images, logos, it
is sensible for the access agreement to
include a licence for exploitation of such
works, rather than having to do that
separately, after filming has taken place.
Whilst relations with the organisation
granting access will hopefully continue
to be good up to and after transmission,
that cannot be guaranteed.
Individual consents. In most cases,