Joe Macdonald

thanks to all who have replied. particularly interested in R.Edge's point about documentary cinematographers as opposed to fiction cinematographers. I clearly stated in my previous posts that the stock was not at stake here and i am just trying to get a clear definition of the rights to my own stock footage for future reference. As a crew of three we all understand that it is 'our' film, in that we all had input into it's conception and realisation, this is not in question, what is? The general rights of cinematographers in regard to their own footage, i am trying to keep this in reference to documentary footage only, thanks, Joe.

thankyou all for your responses. what i would like to make clear, however, is where the responsability lies between myself and the director. I was acting as the DOP on the shoot, and due to the nature of wildlife photography, it was hard for the director to have any idea what footage we got until telecine. We had worked closely in pre-production and between shots discussing framing and the subject of each shot, but it was still my decision through the viewfinder (no video asst) as to the aesthetic composition of the shot. it was near impossible for the director to get a look through the viewfinder because of the terrain and behavour of the birds, he had to trust my judgement, so in theory it could be said that the rushes belong to me and it is what he did with the footage in the edit that is the result of his directorial input. Are they mine or his, is the basic question. (I currently have the rushes and the director is happy for things to be this way, but it has sparked a theorectical debate between us that has been in stalemate for the last few weeks, which is why i am asking for the oppinion of others). Thanks, Joe.

I'm a final year BA student studying in UK. just finished a nature documentary shot on super16mm about sea birds in scotland. the film was funded by my film school as a part of my course and there was a crew of three who went to shoot, me as DOP, the director and the sound recordest. I fully understand that the film school and my university own all rights to the footage we got, but my director, who is good friend and will remain so, believes that as the film was his concept he would own the right to keep the footage and use it as he wishes. i am completely willing for this to happen as he is a friend, but to settle a theoretical debate i would like to know who would own the footage if we had invested 50/50 of our own money. thanks joe.