Using Speeches in your Films?

[John W. King]

Hello, all!

 

I am curious as to the legalities of using speeches given by individuals in the past.

 

For instance, I am considering using a speech from Alan Watts, given during some lecture at a university as a voiceover.

 

Is there any copyright involved with this, or the use of any other speeches?

 

Thanks!

John

[Brian Drysdale]

There can be a number of aspects, including the written aspect and the performance itself. Are you talking about a short quote (a line) or something longer?

[John W. King]

There can be a number of aspects, including the written aspect and the performance itself. Are you talking about a short quote (a line) or something longer?

Let's say I were to take the first two minutes or so of this speech:

and place it into my film.

[Brian Drysdale]

You'd need to clear it, also, whoever made the film may have copyright.

Edited April 5, 2016 by Brian Drysdale

[Mark Dunn]

Have a look at this

particularly with respect to fair use, which is a much wider definition in your country than in mine.

http://web.law.duke.edu/cspd/comics/zoomcomic.html

[Patrick Cooper]

I remember in the Jodie Foster movie Contact, they used part of Bill Clinton's speech without permission. That probably landed them in hot water.

[Guest]

All presidential speeches are public domain. The feed called the "pool feed" is also public domain. Obviously you can't have 50 network cameras in the oval office when the president makes a speech, it's one camera and everyone gets the same feed.

 

Now the network that shoots a particular angle of a presidential speech while the president is out on the lawn for example, would have ownership rights over the footage. But the network does not have ownership over the president's image or what he says, that is public domain.

 

Public figures, including celebrities, do not have the same kind of image protections that private citizens do.

 

R,