HOW A STUDIO WORKS… (In the Entertainment industry. How a Studio Works?)

The Babelsberg Studio near Berlin was the first large-scale film studio in the world / Photo Credit: Wikimapia

HOW A STUDIO WORKS… (In the Entertainment industry. How a Studio Works?)

Bruce Bisbey…please follow me at: https://dumbdogproductionsllc.blogspot.com or https://www.facebook.com/DumbDogProductionsLLC/ thank you.

How a Studio Works

Studio System

A film studio (also known as movie studio or simply studio) is a major entertainment company or motion picture company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to make films, which is handled by the production company. The majority of firms in the entertainment industry have never owned their own studios, but have rented space from other companies.

There are also independently owned studio facilities, who have never produced a motion picture of their own because they are not entertainment companies or motion picture companies; they are companies who sell only studio space.

The largest film studio in the world is Ramoji Film City, in Hyderabad, India.

Beginnings

The Babelsberg Studio near Berlin was the first large-scale film studio in the world and the forerunner to Hollywood. It still produces movies every year.

In 1893, Thomas Edison built the first movie studio in the United States when he constructed the Black Maria, a tarpaper-covered structure near his laboratories in West Orange, New Jersey, and asked circus, vaudeville, and dramatic actors to perform for the camera. He distributed these movies at vaudeville theaters, penny arcades, wax museums, and fairgrounds. The pioneering Thanhouser film studio was founded in New Rochelle, New York in 1909 by American theatrical impresario Edwin Thanhouser. The company produced and released 1,086 films between 1910 and 1917, successfully distributing them around the world. The first film serial ever, The Million Dollar Mystery, was released by the Thanhouser Company in 1914.

In the early 1900s, companies started moving to Los Angeles, California. Although electric lights were by then widely available, none were yet powerful enough to adequately expose film; the best source of illumination for motion picture production was natural sunlight. Some movies were shot on the roofs of buildings in Downtown Los Angeles. Early movie producers also relocated to Southern California to escape Edison's Motion Picture Patents Company, which controlled almost all the patents relevant to movie production at the time.

The first movie studio in the Hollywood area was Nestor Studios, opened in 1911 by Al Christie for David Horsley. In the same year, another 15 independents settled in Hollywood. Other production companies eventually settled in the Los Angeles area in places such as Culver City, Burbank, and what would soon become known as Studio City in the San Fernando Valley.

The "majors"

Further information: Major film studio

The Big 5

By the mid-1920s, the evolution of a handful of American production companies into wealthy motion picture industry conglomerates that owned their own studios, distribution divisions, and theaters, and contracted with performers and other filmmaking personnel, led to the sometimes confusing equation of "studio" with "production company" in industry slang. Five large companies, 20th Century Fox, RKO Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros., and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer came to be known as the "Big Five," the "majors," or "the Studios" in trade publications such as Variety, and their management structures and practices collectively came to be known as the "studio system."

The Little 3

Although they owned few or no theaters to guarantee sales of their films, Universal Pictures, Columbia Pictures, and United Artists also fell under these rubrics, making a total of eight generally recognized "major studios". United Artists, although its controlling partners owned not one but two production studios during the Golden Age, had an often-tenuous hold on the title of "major" and operated mainly as a backer and distributor of independently produced films.

The minors

Smaller studios operated simultaneously with "the majors." These included operations such as Republic Pictures, active from 1935, which produced films that occasionally matched the scale and ambition of the larger studio, and Monogram Pictures, which specialized in series and genre releases. Together with smaller outfits such as PRC TKO and Grand National, the minor studios filled the demand for B movies and are sometimes collectively referred to as Poverty Row.

The independents

The Big Five's ownership of movie theaters was eventually opposed by eight independent producers, including Samuel Goldwyn, David O. Selznick, Walt Disney, Hal Roach, and Walter Wanger. In 1948, the federal government won a case against Paramount in the Supreme Court, which ruled that the vertically integrated structure of the movie industry constituted an illegal monopoly. This decision, reached after twelve years of litigation, hastened the end of the studio system and Hollywood's "Golden Age".

Typical major film studio components

By the 1950s, the physical components of a typical major film studio had become standardized. Since then, a major film studio has usually been housed inside a physically secure compound with a high wall, which protects filmmaking operations from unwanted interference from paparazzi and crazed fans of leading movie stars. Movement in and out of the studio is normally limited to specific gates (often capped with grand decorative arches), where visitors must stop at a boom barrier and explain the purpose of their visit to a security guard. Studio premises generally feature multiple sound stages along with an outside backlot, as well as offices for studio executives and production companies. There is normally a studio "commissary", which is the traditional term in the film industry for what other industries call a company cafeteria. Early nitrate film was notoriously flammable, and sets were and are still very flammable, which is why film studios built in the early-to-mid 20th century have water towers to facilitate firefighting.

Film to television

Halfway through the 1950s, with television proving to be a lucrative enterprise not destined to disappear any time soon—as many in the film industry had once hoped—movie studios were increasingly being used to produce programming for the burgeoning medium. Some midsize film companies, such as Republic Pictures, eventually sold their studios to TV production concerns, which were eventually bought by larger studios, such as the American Broadcasting Company which was purchased by The Walt Disney Company in 1996.

Today

With the growing diversification of studios into such fields as video games, television, theme parks, home video and publishing, they have become multi-national corporations. As the studios increased in size they began to rely on production companies, like J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot Productions, to handle many of the creative and physical production details of their feature films. Instead the studios transformed into financing and distribution entities for the films made by their affiliated production companies. With the decreasing cost of CG and visual effects, many studios sold large chunks of their once massive studio spaces or backlots to private real-estate developers. Century City in Los Angeles was once part of the 20th Century Fox backlot, which was among the largest and most famous of the studio lots. In most cases portions of the backlots were retained and are available for rental by various film and television productions. Some studios offer tours of their backlots, while Universal Pictures allows visitors to its adjacent Universal Studios Hollywood theme park to take a tram tour of the backlot where films such as Psycho and Back to the Future were once shot.

Independent film and the studios

In the 1980s and 90s, as the cost of professional 16mm film equipment decreased, along with the emergence of non-film innovations such as S-VHS and Mini-DV cameras, many young filmmakers began to make films outside the "studio system". Filmmakers such as Jim Jarmusch, Robert Rodriguez, Steven Soderbergh, Quentin Tarantino, Kevin Smith and Richard Linklater made films that pushed boundaries in ways the studios were then reluctant to do. In response to these films, many distributed by "mini-studios" like Miramax the "majors" created their own in-house mini-studios meant to focus on edgier "independent" content. Focus Features was created by Universal Pictures and Fox Searchlight was created by 20th Century Fox for this purpose.

What is the difference between a film studio and a production company?

A production company is one individual legal entity that produces movies. They source the literary property, package the film, and get the movie made by assembling the team and by making the movie from start to finish, which also entails securing distribution. A production company may make one or many films.

A film studio is an individual legal entity that is generally also a production company, doing all of the above described, making its own movies under its own brand. Further, a film studio is also essentially, a glorified rental facility and brand, that has everything one needs to make a film, which rents or leases out office space, chairs, phones, tables, production gear, and other facilities to other production companies, producers, writers, and directors, some of who may produce films under their own separate brand, or who may have a deal with the studio to for a joint production. Film studios also have their own marketing, advertising, publicity, and legal department, restaurant, catering, and other crew departments including lighting, electrical, sound stages, etc., whereas production companies alone do not. Top film studios also have their own sources of distribution (among more), which are generally larger than distribution sources secured by independent production companies.

Sources, References & Credits: Google, Wikipedia, Wikihow, Pinterest, IMDB, Linked In, Indie Wire, Film Making Stuff, Hiive, Film Daily, New York Film Academy, The Balance, The Numbers, Film Maker, TV Guide Magazine, Media Match, Quora, Creative Skill Set, Investopedia, Variety, No Film School, Daily Variety, The Film Agency, Best Sample Resume, How Stuff Works, Career Trend, Producer's Code of Credits, Producers Guild of America, Film Connection, Entertainment Careers, Adhere Creative, In Deed, Glass Door, Pay Scale, Merriam-Webster, Job Monkey, Studio Binder, The Collective, Production Hub, The Producer's Business Handbook by John J. Lee Jr., Honathaner, Eve Light. Freiberg (2000), "The Film Industry.”, Bernard F. Dick Columbia Pictures: Portrait of a Studio, McDonald, Wasko, Paul, Janet (2008). The Contemporary Hollywood Film Industry, Hodgins, Eric “Amid Ruins of an Empire a New Hollywood Arises”, Schatz, Thomas (1998 [1988]). The Genius of the System: Hollywood Filmmaking in the Studio Era, Finler, Joel W. (1988). The Hollywood Story, Hollywood Lexicon, Life, Bruce Edwin

THIS ARTICLE IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. THE INFORMATION IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND BRUCE BISBEY MAKES NO EXPRESS OR IMPLIED REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF PERFORMANCE, MERCHANTABILITY, AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, REGARDING THIS INFORMATION. BRUCE BISBEY DOES NOT GUARANTEE THE COMPLETENESS, ACCURACY OR TIMELINESS OF THIS INFORMATION. YOUR USE OF THIS INFORMATION IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. YOU ASSUME FULL RESPONSIBILITY AND RISK OF LOSS RESULTING FROM THE USE OF THIS INFORMATION. BRUCE BISBEY WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, SPECIAL, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES OR ANY OTHER DAMAGES WHATSOEVER, WHETHER IN AN ACTION BASED UPON A STATUTE, CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION NEGLIGENCE) OR OTHERWISE, RELATING TO THE USE OF THIS INFORMATION.

TRADITIONAL HOLLYWOOD STUDIO SYSTEM… (In the Entertainment industry. What is the Traditional Hollywood Studio System?)

20th Century Fox Back-lot and tank 1940 / Photo Credit: 20th Century Fox, Life and World Cinema Paradise

TRADITIONAL HOLLYWOOD STUDIO SYSTEM… (In the Entertainment industry. What is the Traditional Hollywood Studio System?)

Bruce Bisbey…please follow me at: https://dumbdogproductionsllc.blogspot.com or https://www.facebook.com/DumbDogProductionsLLC/ thank you.

Traditional Hollywood Studio System

Studio System

Definition

A business model adopted by five Hollywood studios—Paramount Pictures, Metro Goldwyn Mayer, Warner Brothers Pictures, 20th Century Fox and RKO—that combined all facets of film production with studio-owned distribution chains.

History

The men who founded the studio system—Adolph Zukor, Louis B. Mayer, and the brothers Jack, Harry and Sam Warner—were all Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. They came to Hollywood from America’s northeast where they owned theaters that were or had been venues for vaudeville and burlesque. These theaters primarily catered to urban working people, many of whom were Jewish, Italian and Slavic immigrants or first generation Americans. Their owners had discovered that showing films in their theaters was more profitable than staging live acts. The problem was supply, which is why the moguls-to-be were drawn to Hollywood.

In the years before World War I, America’s leading filmmakers had settled in and around Hollywood. The reasons were literally location, location, location. First, this enclave of Los Angeles was as far away as possible in the United States from the New Jersey home of Thomas Edison. The distance made it impractical if not impossible for the litigious inventor to sue filmmakers for patent infringements.  Second, Southern California weather accommodated filming year round. Skies were not only sunny but cloudless, providing the consistent light needed for continuity. Hollywood was even optimal within the Los Angeles basin; being 15 miles inland, it was little affected by marine fog. Finally, the nearby and eclectic terrains—ranches, mountains, forest, desert and seashore—could pass for most locales in the world, particularly in black and white.

The film industry boomed in America during World I. Freedom finally to make the most of filmmaking technology was one reason. As director and producer Francis Ford Coppola theorized, leading writers of the 19th Century envisioned and longed for filmmaking capability. "When the human race got the gift of cinema, they just went mad," he said.  No one was more enthusiastic than the industry’s many Jews, whose religion—“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.”—discouraged if not prohibited sculpture and even painting.  Meanwhile, Hollywood benefited from the Great War, which put the film industries of England and France on hold. Although German and Russian filmmakers remained active, their offerings never went farther west than the trenches and the Allies naval blockade of Germany. At the end of the war, Hollywood motion pictures were America’s fifth largest industry.

The studio system (which was used during a period known as the Golden Age of Hollywood) is a method of film production and distribution dominated by a small number of "major" studios in Hollywood. Although the term is still used today as a reference to the systems and output of the major studios, historically the term refers to the practice of large motion picture studios between the 1920s and 1960s of (a) producing movies primarily on their own filmmaking lots with creative personnel under often long-term contract, and (b) dominating exhibition through vertical integration, i.e., the ownership or effective control of distributors and exhibition, guaranteeing additional sales of films through manipulative booking techniques such as block booking.

The studio system was challenged under the anti-trust laws in a 1948 Supreme Court ruling which sought to separate production from the distribution and exhibition and ended such practices, thereby hastening the end of the studio system. By 1954, with television competing for audience and the last of the operational links between a major production studio and theater chain broken, the historic era of the studio system was over.

The period stretching from the introduction of sound to the beginning of the demise of the studio system, 1927–1948/1949, is referred to by some film historians as the Golden Age of Hollywood. The Golden Age is a purely technical distinction and not to be confused with the style in film criticism known as Classical Hollywood cinema, a style of American film which developed from 1917 to 1963 and characterizes it to this day. During the so-called Golden Age, eight companies constituted the major studios that promulgated the Hollywood studio system. Of these eight, five were fully integrated conglomerates, combining ownership of a production studio, distribution division, and substantial theater chain, and contracting with performers and filmmaking personnel: Fox Film Corporation (later 20th Century Fox), Loew’s Incorporated (owner of America's largest theater circuit and parent company to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer), Paramount Pictures, RKO Radio Pictures, and Warner Bros. Two majors—Universal Pictures and Columbia Pictures—were similarly organized, though they never owned more than small theater circuits. The eighth of the Golden Age majors, United Artists, owned a few theaters and had access to two production facilities owned by members of its controlling partnership group, but it functioned primarily as a backer-distributor, loaning money to independent producers and releasing their films.

Sound and the Big Five

The years 1927 and 1928 are generally seen as the beginning of Hollywood's Golden Age and the final major steps in establishing studio system control of the American film business. The success of 1927's The Jazz Singer, the first feature-length "talkie" (in fact, the majority of its scenes did not have live-recorded sound) gave a big boost to the then midsized Warner Bros. studio. The following year saw both the general introduction of sound throughout the industry and two more smashes for Warner’s: The Singing Fool, The Jazz Singer's even more profitable follow-up, and Hollywood's first "all-talking" feature, Lights of New York. Just as significant were a number of off screen developments. Warner Bros., now flush with income, acquired the extensive Stanley theater chain in September 1928. One month later, it purchased a controlling interest in the First National production company, more prominent than Warner’s itself not long before. With the First National acquisition came not only a 135-acre (0.55 km2) studio and backlot but another large string of movie theaters. Warner’s had hit the big time.

The last of the "Big Five" Hollywood conglomerates of the Golden Age emerged in 1928: RKO. The Radio Corporation of America (RCA), led by David Sarnoff, was looking for ways to exploit the cinema sound patents, newly trademarked RCA Photo phone, owned by its parent company, General Electric. As the leading film production companies were all preparing to sign exclusive agreements with Western Electric for their technology, RCA got into the movie business itself. In January, General Electric acquired a sizable interest in Film Booking Offices of America (FBO), a distributor and small production company owned by Joseph P. Kennedy, father of future president John F. Kennedy. In October, through a set of stock transfers, RCA gained control of both FBO and the Keith-Albee-Orpheum theater chain; merging them into a single venture, it created the Radio-Keith-Orpheum Corporation, Sarnoff chairing the board. With RKO and Warner Bros. (soon to become Warner Bros.–First National) joining Fox, Paramount, and Loew's/MGM as major players, the Big Five that would remain for thirty years were now in place.

Although RKO was an exception, the heads of studios on the west coast, the 'movie moguls', had mostly been in place for some years: Louis B. Mayer at MGM, Jack L. Warner at Warner Bros., Adolph Zukor at Paramount, Darryl F. Zanuck (at 20th Century Fox from 1935), Carl Laemmle at Universal, and Harry Cohn at Columbia.

Reign of the majors and the first decline

The ranking of the Big Five in terms of profitability (closely related to market share) was largely consistent during the Golden Age: MGM was number one eleven years running, 1931–41. Paramount, the most profitable studio of the early sound era (1928–30), faded for the better part of the subsequent decade, and Fox was number two for most of MGM's reign. Paramount began a steady climb in 1940, finally edging past MGM two years later; from then until its reorganization in 1949 it was again the most financially successful of the Big Five. With the exception of 1932—when all the companies but MGM lost money, and RKO lost somewhat less than its competitors—RKO was next to last or (usually) last every year of the Golden Age, with Warner generally hanging alongside at the back of the pack. Of the smaller majors, the Little Three, United Artists reliably held up the rear, with Columbia strongest in the 1930s and Universal ahead for most of the 1940s.

Hollywood's success grew during the Great Depression, possibly because films helped audiences escape their personal difficulties. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt said of Shirley Temple, "When the spirit of the people is lower than at any other time during this Depression, it is a splendid thing that for just fifteen cents an American can go to a movie and look at the smiling face of a baby and forget his troubles". By 1939 there were 15,000 movie theaters in the United States, more than banks; the number of theaters per capita was twice that of the mid-1980s. The cinema industry was larger than that for office machines. While only the 14th largest by revenue, it was second in the percentage of profits that its executives received. Top stars such as Bing Crosby and Claudette Colbert were paid more than $400,000 a year ($7,037,321 today).

The end of the system and the death of RKO

One of the techniques used to support the studio system was block booking, a system of selling multiple films to a theater as a unit. Such a unit—five films was the standard practice for most of the 1940s—typically included only one particularly attractive film, the rest a mix of A-budget pictures of lesser quality and B movies. As Life magazine wrote in 1957 in a retrospective on the studio system, "It wasn't good entertainment and it wasn't art, and most of the movies produced had a uniform mediocrity, but they were also uniformly profitable ... The million-dollar mediocrity was the very backbone of Hollywood."

On May 4, 1948, in a federal antitrust suit known as the Paramount case brought against the entire Big Five, the U.S. Supreme Court specifically outlawed block booking. Holding that the conglomerates were indeed in violation of antitrust, the justices refrained from making a final decision as to how that fault should be remedied, but the case was sent back to the lower court from which it had come with language that suggested divorcement—the complete separation of exhibition interests from producer-distributor operations—was the answer. The Big Five, though, seemed united in their determination to fight on and drag out legal proceedings for years as they had already proven adept at—after all, the Paramount suit had originally been filed on July 20, 1938.

However, behind the scenes at RKO, long the financially shakiest of the conglomerates, the court ruling came to be looked at as a development that could be used to the studio's advantage. The same month that the decision was handed down, multimillionaire Howard Hughes acquired a controlling interest in the company. As RKO controlled the fewest theaters of any of the Big Five, Hughes decided that starting a divorcement domino effect could actually help put his studio on a more equal footing with his competitors. Hughes signaled his willingness to the federal government to enter into a consent decree obliging the breakup of his movie business. Under the agreement, Hughes would split his studio into two entities, RKO Pictures Corporation and RKO Theatres Corporation, and commit to selling off his stake in one or the other by a certain date. Hughes's decision to concede to divorcement terminally undermined the argument by lawyers for the rest of the Big Five that such breakups were unfeasible.

While many today point to the May court ruling, it is actually Hughes's agreement with the federal government - signed November 8, 1948 - that was truly the death knell for the Golden Age of Hollywood. Paramount soon capitulated, entering into a similar consent decree the following February. The studio, which had fought against divorcement for so long, became the first of the majors to break up, ahead of schedule, finalizing divestiture on December 31, 1949. By this time, there were 19,000 movie theaters in the United States. The Golden Age was over.

Through Hughes's deal with the federal authorities, and those by the other studios that soon followed, the studio system lingered on for another half-decade. The major studio that adapted to the new circumstances with the most immediate success was the smallest, United Artists; under a new management team that took over in 1951, overhead was cut by terminating its lease arrangement with the Pickford-Fairbanks production facility and new relationships with independent producers, now often involving direct investment, were forged—a business model that Hollywood would increasingly emulate in coming years. The studio system around which the industry had been organized for three decades finally expired in 1954, when Loew's, the last holdout, severed all operational ties with MGM.

Hughes's gambit helped break the studio system, but it did little for RKO. His disruptive leadership—coupled with the draining away of audiences to television that was affecting the entire industry—took a toll on the studio that was evident to Hollywood observers. When Hughes sought to bail out of his RKO interest in 1952, he had to turn to a Chicago-based syndicate led by shady dealers without motion picture experience. The deal fell through, so Hughes was back in charge when the RKO theater chain was finally sold off as mandated in 1953. That year, General Tire and Rubber Company, which was expanding its small, decade-old broadcasting division, approached Hughes concerning the availability of RKO's film library for programming. Hughes acquired near-complete ownership of RKO Pictures in December 1954 and consummated a sale with General Tire for the entire studio the following summer.

The new owners quickly made some of their money back by selling the TV rights for the library they treasured to C&C Television Corp., a beverage company subsidiary. (RKO retained the rights for the few TV stations General Tire had brought along.) Under the deal, the films were stripped of their RKO identity before being sent by C&C to local stations; the famous opening logo, with its globe and radio tower, was removed, as were the studio's other trademarks.

Back in Hollywood, RKO's new owners were encountering little success in the moviemaking business and by 1957 General Tire shut down production and sold the main RKO facilities to Desilu, the production company of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. Just like United Artists, the studio now no longer had a studio; unlike UA, it barely owned its old movies and saw no profit in the making of new ones. In 1959 it abandoned the movie business entirely.

Sources, References & Credits: Google, Wikipedia, Wikihow, Pinterest, IMDB, Linked In, Indie Wire, Film Making Stuff, Hiive, Film Daily, New York Film Academy, The Balance, The Numbers, Film Maker, TV Guide Magazine, Media Match, Quora, Creative Skill Set, Investopedia, Variety, No Film School, Daily Variety, The Film Agency, Best Sample Resume, How Stuff Works, Career Trend, Producer's Code of Credits, Producers Guild of America, Film Connection, Entertainment Careers, Adhere Creative, In Deed, Glass Door, Pay Scale, Merriam-Webster, Job Monkey, Studio Binder, The Collective, Production Hub, The Producer's Business Handbook by John J. Lee Jr., Honathaner, Eve Light. Freiberg (2000), "The Film Industry.”, Bernard F. Dick Columbia Pictures: Portrait of a Studio, McDonald, Wasko, Paul, Janet (2008). The Contemporary Hollywood Film Industry, Hodgins, Eric “Amid Ruins of an Empire a New Hollywood Arises”, Schatz, Thomas (1998 [1988]). The Genius of the System: Hollywood Filmmaking in the Studio Era, Finler, Joel W. (1988). The Hollywood Story, Hollywood Lexicon, Life

THIS ARTICLE IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. THE INFORMATION IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND BRUCE BISBEY MAKES NO EXPRESS OR IMPLIED REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF PERFORMANCE, MERCHANTABILITY, AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, REGARDING THIS INFORMATION. BRUCE BISBEY DOES NOT GUARANTEE THE COMPLETENESS, ACCURACY OR TIMELINESS OF THIS INFORMATION. YOUR USE OF THIS INFORMATION IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. YOU ASSUME FULL RESPONSIBILITY AND RISK OF LOSS RESULTING FROM THE USE OF THIS INFORMATION. BRUCE BISBEY WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, SPECIAL, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES OR ANY OTHER DAMAGES WHATSOEVER, WHETHER IN AN ACTION BASED UPON A STATUTE, CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION NEGLIGENCE) OR OTHERWISE, RELATING TO THE USE OF THIS INFORMATION.

WRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA… (In the Entertainment industry. What is the Writers Guild of America?)

Old Style Writers Typewriter / Photo Credit: Odyssey

WRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA… (In the Entertainment industry. What is the Writers Guild of America?)

Bruce Bisbey…please follow me at: https://dumbdogproductionsllc.blogspot.com or https://www.facebook.com/DumbDogProductionsLLC/ thank you.

Writers Guild of America

The Writers Guild of America is the joint efforts of two different US labor unions representing TV and film writers: 

• The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), headquartered in New York City. www.wgaeast.org/
• The Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW), headquartered in Los Angeles. www.wga.org/

Although each Guild runs independently, they perform some activities in parallel: 

• Writers Guild of America Award, an annual awards show with simultaneous presentations on each coast…
• WGA screenwriting credit system, determines how writers' names are listed during the credits…
• WGA script registration service, online services to prove when scripts were written and by whom…
• International Affiliation of Writers Guilds (IAWG), both Guilds belong to this international labor federation… 

THE WRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA, EAST (WGAE) is a labor union representing film and television writers as well as employees of television and radio news.

The Writers Guild of America, East is affiliated with the Writers Guild of America, West. Together the guilds administer the Writers Guild of America Awards. It is an affiliate of the International Federation of Journalists, the International Affiliation of Writers Guilds, and the AFL–CIO.

History

WGAE had its beginnings in 1912, when the Authors' League of America (ALA) was formed by some 350 book and magazine authors, as well as dramatists. In 1921, this group split into two branches of the League: the Dramatists Guild of America for writers of radio and stage drama and the Authors Guild for novelists and nonfiction book and magazine authors.

That same year, the Screen Writers Guild came into existence in Hollywood, California, but was "little more than a social organization", according to the WGAe's website, until the Great Depression of the 1930s and the growth of the organized labor movement impelled it to take a more active role in negotiating and guaranteeing writers' contractual rights and protections.

In 1933, the ALA and SWG joined forces, and two years later, with passage of the National Labor Relations Act of 1935, called for an election to represent writers of films in collective bargaining agreements; the first such agreement was signed in 1942. Meanwhile, the Radio Writers Guild was formed in New York and became part of the ALA.

A Television Writers Group within the ALA and a separate group, the Television Writers of America, each began representing writers for the nascent television industry beginning in the late 1940s. In 1951, the ALA reorganized into the Writers' Guild of America East and West, in recognition of the growing complexity of representing members in many different fields of entertainment writing. Writers working in motion pictures, TV and radio would be represented by these two new guilds, while the Authors Guild and the Dramatists Guild remained as branches of the ALA to represent print-media writers. The WGAW and WGAE have bargained for writers in movies, TV and radio since 1954.

The WGAE became affiliated with the AFL-CIO in 1989, although its sister group WGAW did not join and has not since.

On August 27, 2006, WGAE reached an agreement with the producers of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, allowing writers on the show to become guild members.

THE WRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA WEST (WGAW) is a labor union representing film, television, radio, and new media writers. It was formed in 1954 from five organizations representing writers, including the Screen Writers Guild. It has around 20,000 members.

History

The Screen Writers Guild (SWG) was formed in 1921 by a group of ten screenwriters in Hollywood angered over wage reductions announced by the major film studios. The group affiliated with the Authors Guild in 1933 and began representing TV writers in 1948. In 1954, the SWG was one of five groups who merged to represent professional writers on both coasts and became the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAe) and West (WGAw). Howard J. Green and John Howard Lawson were the first two presidents during the SWG era. Daniel Taradash was president of the WGAw from 1977 to 1979.

In 1952, the Guild authorized movie studios to delete onscreen credits for any writers who had not been cleared by Congress, as part of the industry's blacklisting of writers with alleged Communist or leftist leanings or affiliations.

From March to August 1988, WGAw members were on strike against the major American television networks in a dispute over residuals from repeat airings and foreign/home video use of scripted shows and made-for-TV movies. The 22-week strike crippled American broadcast television and drove millions of viewers, disgusted with the lack of new scripted programming, to cable channels and home video, a blow to ratings and revenues from which, some industry watchers argue, the networks have never fully recovered.

In 2004, Victoria Riskin resigned as WGAw President after being accused by her opponent Eric Hughes during the 2003 election of using a sham writing contract to maintain her membership status. She was replaced by vice-president Charles Holland, who resigned a few weeks later when questions arose about statements he had made about his college football career and his claim of having secretly served in combat as a Green Beret, a claim his army records did not support. After Riskin's resignation, the U.S. Department of Labor investigated the sham contract and concluded that Riskin was indeed ineligible to run. The WGAw entered into a settlement by offering to re-run the election under DOL supervision. A new election was held in September 2004 between Eric Hughes and Daniel Petrie, Jr. which Petrie won.

Sources, References & Credits: Google, Wikipedia, Wikihow, Pinterest, IMDB, Linked In, Indie Wire, Film Making Stuff, Hiive, Film Daily, New York Film Academy, The Balance, The Numbers, Film Maker, TV Guide Magazine, Media Match, Quora, Creative Skill Set, Investopedia, Variety, No Film School, Daily Variety, The Film Agency, Best Sample Resume, How Stuff Works, Career Trend, Producer's Code of Credits, Producers Guild of America, Film Connection, Entertainment Careers, Adhere Creative, In Deed, Glass Door, Pay Scale, Merriam-Webster, Job Monkey, Studio Binder, The Collective, Production Hub, The Producer's Business Handbook by John J. Lee Jr., Honathaner, Eve Light. The Complete Film Production Handbook, "Writers Guild of America West", www.wga.org/, www.wgaeast.org/,

THIS ARTICLE IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. THE INFORMATION IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND BRUCE BISBEY MAKES NO EXPRESS OR IMPLIED REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF PERFORMANCE, MERCHANTABILITY, AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, REGARDING THIS INFORMATION. BRUCE BISBEY DOES NOT GUARANTEE THE COMPLETENESS, ACCURACY OR TIMELINESS OF THIS INFORMATION. YOUR USE OF THIS INFORMATION IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. YOU ASSUME FULL RESPONSIBILITY AND RISK OF LOSS RESULTING FROM THE USE OF THIS INFORMATION. BRUCE BISBEY WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, SPECIAL, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES OR ANY OTHER DAMAGES WHATSOEVER, WHETHER IN AN ACTION BASED UPON A STATUTE, CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION NEGLIGENCE) OR OTHERWISE, RELATING TO THE USE OF THIS INFORMATION.

COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT… (In the Entertainment industry. What does Copyright Infringement mean?)

Copyright Infringement / Photo Credit: Francine Ward

COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT… (In the Entertainment industry. What does Copyright Infringement mean?)

Bruce Bisbey…please follow me at: https://dumbdogproductionsllc.blogspot.com or https://www.facebook.com/DumbDogProductionsLLC/ thank you.

Copyright Infringement

What Is Copyright Infringement?

Copyright laws are designed to protect the creator of original works, which are creative expressions from others using and profiting their work, without permission. The idea is that the author or creator owns the rights to the work and can decide if and how others use his or her creation. Though there are grounds for both legal and moral discussion when the created material is sold, furnished, given or used to another entity and that entity applies or uses said created material that may or may not be used in the public domain and fair use.

There are cases of copyright infringement based on usage in a particular country. Attempts to establish a copyright on material that has always been considered public domain. A great example is the British Governments slogan from World War II, “Keep Calm” series. This has been used all around the world in basically any and every context. Attempts by private firms to copyright have failed, but remain fogging to put it plainly in Great Britain, though the saying was created by the British Government.

Another example, music copyright would exist for songwriters on their lyrics. When songwriters allow artists to record their words, there would be an agreement outlining how the right to record is granted, thus avoiding copyright infringement.

If another artist decided to record the same song without permission, the songwriter would be able to bring legal action for copyright infringement against the artist. If you believe that the copyright infringement definition sounds like stealing, you would be correct.

Other examples of copyright infringement include: 

• Give credit to the original or stated artist or publisher regardless of fair use or perceived public domain…
• If for commercial uses, always get clearance/permissions…
• Downloading movies and music without proper payment for use…
• Recording movies in a theater…
• Using others’ photographs for a blog without permission…
• Copying software code without giving proper credit…
• Creating videos with unlicensed music clips…
• Copying books, blogs or podcasts without permission…
• Anything where you are copying someone else’s original work without an agreement… 

Tips for Avoiding Copyright Infringement

Use Caution If It’s Not Your Original Work

If you did not create it, the work is not yours to use freely, even if there is no copyright symbol. If you were to pass an unlocked bicycle on the street, you would not take it – that is obviously stealing. The same applies for a photograph on the Internet. Look for the license or permissions before you use anything that isn’t yours.

Though there are grounds for both legal and moral discussion when the created material is sold, furnished, given or used to another entity and that entity applies or uses said created material that may or may not be used in the public domain and fair use.

Video hosting companies such as YouTube use software to detect music copyright infringement before allowing uploads. Slide share allows users to report copyright infringement. Artists and author can subscribe to online services that monitor and report plagiarism. However, there are many sites with free-to-use music and photos.

Read, Read, Read

Many creators do wish to share their works either for a fee or for proper attribution. The rules for use or terms are often in the form of a license. It’s important to review and read the licensing terms to avoid issues. For example, we once licensed IP cartoons for our office walls. Based on the license, we could not use those pictures online or we would have received a fine.

Check out the company or individual that has the created the material. Do some research to see if the material in question has been used before and in what context? Has the material been used in the realm of public domain? Fair usage?

Look for Fair Use

Although ignorance is not a defense, there are some exceptions to the copyright infringement laws. There is an exception called “fair use,” which is often associated with education. The concept is that if you are using a photo or an article for educational or non-commercial purposes, then you may be exempt from infringement.

Overall, it’s important to understand the copyright laws or rights for any original creations to avoid copyright infringement. Being diverted by fines or legal action can take up valuable time and resources. The steps to avoiding copyright infringement are quite simple: identify and protect original works, and educate family and/or employees about copyright infringement.

DEFINITIONS FROM THE U.S. COPYRIGHT OFFICE

Who is an author?

Under the copyright law, the creator of the original expression in a work is its author. The author is also the owner of copyright unless there is a written agreement by which the author assigns the copyright to another person or entity, such as a publisher. In cases of works made for hire, the employer or commissioning party is considered to be the author. See Circular 9, Work-Made-For-Hire Under the 1976 Copyright Act.

What is a deposit?

A deposit is usually one copy (if unpublished) or two copies (if published) of the work to be registered for copyright. In certain cases such as works of the visual arts, identifying material such as a photograph may be used instead. See Circular 40a, Deposit Requirements for Registration of Claims to Copyright in Visual Arts Material. The deposit is sent with the application and fee and becomes the property of the Library of Congress.

What is publication?

Publication has a technical meaning in copyright law. According to the statute, “Publication is the distribution of copies or phono records of a work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending. The offering to distribute copies or phono records to a group of persons for purposes of further distribution, public performance, or public display constitutes publication. A public performance or display of a work does not of itself constitute publication.” Generally, publication occurs on the date on which copies of the work are first made available to the public. For further information see Circular 1, Copyright Basics, section “Publication”.

What is a copyright notice? How do I put a copyright notice on my work?

A copyright notice is an identifier placed on copies of the work to inform the world of copyright ownership. The copyright notice generally consists of the symbol or word “copyright (or copr.),” the name of the copyright owner, and the year of first publication, e.g., ©2008 John Doe. While use of a copyright notice was once required as a condition of copyright protection, it is now optional. Use of the notice is the responsibility of the copyright owner and does not require advance permission from, or registration with, the Copyright Office. See Circular 3, Copyright Notice, for requirements for works published before March 1, 1989, and for more information on the form and position of the copyright notice.

What is copyright infringement?

As a general matter, copyright infringement occurs when a copyrighted work is reproduced, distributed, performed, publicly displayed, or made into a derivative work without the permission of the copyright owner.

What is peer-to-peer (P2P) networking?

A type of network where computers communicate directly with each other, rather than through a central server. Often referred to simply as peer-to-peer, or abbreviated P2P, a type of network in which each workstation has equivalent capabilities and responsibilities in contrast to client/server architectures, in which some computers are dedicated to serving the other computers. A "network" is a group of two or more computer systems linked together by various methods. In recent usage, peer-to-peer has come to describe applications in which users can use the Internet to exchange files with each other directly or through a mediating server.

Where is the public domain?

The public domain is not a place. A work of authorship is in the “public domain” if it is no longer under copyright protection or if it failed to meet the requirements for copyright protection. Works in the public domain may be used freely without the permission of the former copyright owner.

What is mandatory deposit?

Copies of all works under copyright protection that have been published in the United States are required to be deposited with the Copyright Office within three months of the date of first publication. See Circular 7d, Mandatory Deposit of Copies or Phono records for the Library of Congress, and the Deposit Regulation 202.19.

What is a work made for hire?

Although the general rule is that the person who creates the work is its author, there is an exception to that principle. The exception is a work made for hire, which is a work prepared by an employee within the scope of his or her employment or a work specially ordered or commissioned in certain specified circumstances. When a work qualifies as a work made for hire, the employer, or commissioning party, is considered to be the author. See Circular 9, Work-Made-For-Hire Under the 1976 Copyright Act.

What is a Library of Congress number?

The Library of Congress Control Number is assigned by the Library at its discretion to assist librarians in acquiring and cataloging works. For further information, go to the Cataloging in Publication program website at www.loc.gov/publish/cip/.

What is an ISBN number?

The International Standard Book Number is administered by the R.R. Bowker Company. The ISBN is a numerical identifier intended to assist the international community in identifying and ordering certain publications.

WHAT TO DO IF YOU'RE ACCUSED OF COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT

There are cases of copyright infringement based on usage in a particular country. Attempts to establish a copyright on material that has always been considered public domain. A great example is the British Governments slogan from World War II, “Keep Calm” series. This has been used all around the world in basically any and every context. Attempts by private firms to copyright have failed, but remain fogging to put it plainly in Great Britain, though the saying was created by the British Government.

You may receive an e-mail, regular letter, telephone call or otherwise be notified by a copyright owner or his lawyer that you are infringing his copyright. The claim may relate to an article published in your newsletter or to a photograph on your Web site. Often this notification states that if you do not take steps to remedy the situation, either by paying an “after-the-fact” copyright license fee, or by stopping any and all use of the content, the copyright owner will institute a court action. Do not panic. Prior to evaluating the validity of the claim and analyzing your options, it’s best not to take any radical steps. In other words, take the time to understand the claim and see what makes most sense to your organization in the circumstances.

You’re accusing us of what? What exactly is copyright infringement?

Copyright infringement is when someone uses the copyright-protected work of someone else, (a book, an article, a song, etc.), without permission. If something is protected by copyright, you generally cannot legally make it available to the public in any format, digital or otherwise, without permission of the person or body who holds the copyright.

Determine the Validity of the Claim

Though there are grounds for both legal and moral discussion when the created material is sold, furnished, given or used to another entity and that entity applies or uses said created material that may or may not be used in the public domain and fair use.

If you receive what in legal jargon is called a “demand letter,” your first step is to review the materials specifically subject to the claim of copyright infringement. Are these the actual materials you are using? Are you using these materials in the manner claimed in the demand letter? If so, are they still protected by copyright, or are they perhaps in the public domain? Have you licensed the materials, or obtained an assignment of them?

Check out the company or individual that has accused or copyright infringement. Do some research to see if the material in question has been used before and in what context? Has the material been used in the realm of public domain? Fair usage?

If you require permission to use these materials, have you in fact obtained that permission? Hopefully, any permission you received is in writing and is part of a database that is easily accessible. Check the permission or license. Is your use covered by it? Have you followed the terms and conditions in the license? Perhaps the person charging you is claiming that, although you only obtained a license to put the material on your Web site for 6 months, you have neglected to remove it after a year. After the six-month period of use has expired, you could be in breach of copyright.

The license may also state that only a certain number of authorized users may have access to the content. For example, an organization may obtain the right to post an article about brand management on its Web site for a week-long program on Online Marketing. The license states that you must have the Web site password-protected and may only issue 50 passwords. If your organization either keeps the article accessible for longer than one week or grants permission to more than 50 users to view the article, you could be violating your license and subject to a claim of either breach of contract or copyright infringement, or both.

Is it Fair Use?

If you are facing a claim of copyright infringement, you may turn to fair use as a defense; check what your national law on fair use say. In the U.S. the fair use provision in Section 107 of the United States Copyright Act is confusing and difficult to apply to particular uses of copyright-protected material. It must be applied on a case-to-case basis and often non-lawyers and non-judges are put in the position of determining what may be considered fair use. Many individuals or librarians in corporations do not want to have this responsibility. And it may be costly to get a legal opinion from your lawyer each time you wish to apply fair use to a particular use of content.

Fair use is primarily for the use of copyright-protected work for commentary, parody, news reporting, research and education. The U.S. Copyright Act lists four factors to help judges determine, and therefore help you determine, when a usage may be “fair use.” These relate to the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit, educational purposes; the nature of the copyright-protected work; the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyright work as a whole; and the effect of the use on the potential market for or value of the copyright-protected work. Commercial uses are less likely to be considered fair use.

Examples of uses that may be fair use are: a quotation of excerpts in a review or criticism for purposes of commentary; quotation of short passages in a scholarly or technical work for clarification of the author’s discussions; and reproduction of material for classroom use where the reproduction was unexpected and spontaneous – for example, where an article in the morning’s paper is directly relevant to today’s class topic.

Contact Your Lawyer

Once you have gathered factual information relating to whether the claim against you is valid, discuss the issue with your legal counsel. It is best to deal with a lawyer who has a lot of experience in intellectual property claims. Provide your lawyer with your license agreement (if you have one), and any other documents supporting your position. Discuss your options with your lawyer. Your lawyer may advise you to ignore the claim if it does not seem valid, or to let the other party know this and that you will be continuing to use the content. If your use is not legal, you may wish to stop using the content, or to enter into negotiations with the copyright holder to pay a copyright fee.

Sources, References & Credits: Google, Wikipedia, Wikihow, Pinterest, IMDB, Linked In, Indie Wire, Film Making Stuff, Hiive, Film Daily, New York Film Academy, The Balance, The Numbers, Film Maker, TV Guide Magazine, Media Match, Quora, Creative Skill Set, Investopedia, Variety, No Film School, Daily Variety, The Film Agency, Best Sample Resume, How Stuff Works, Career Trend, Producer's Code of Credits, Producers Guild of America, Film Connection, Entertainment Careers, Adhere Creative, In Deed, Glass Door, Pay Scale, Merriam-Webster, Job Monkey, Studio Binder, The Collective, Production Hub, The Producer's Business Handbook by John J. Lee Jr., Honathaner, Eve Light. The Complete Film Production Handbook, Clearance Guidelines for Producers, Mast, and Gerald. "Film Study and the Copyright Law", from Cinema Journal, Arnoud Engelfriet, “The phrase "All rights reserved", "International Copyright". U.S. Copyright Office, “Copyright Registrations and Formalities". World Intellectual Property Organization, Iusmentis, Work Press, http://www.wga.org/, https://www.copyright.gov/, https://www.copyright.gov, Mary Juetten, Legal Zoom, https://www.legalzoom.com, Lesley Ellen Harris, http://copyrightlaws.com,

Recommended: Lesley Ellen Harris is a copyright lawyer/consultant who works on legal, business and strategic issues in the publishing, content, entertainment, Internet and Information industries. Leslie is the editor of The Copyright & New Media Law Newsletter: For Libraries, Archives & Museums, and the author of several books including Licensing Digital Content, A Practical Guide for Librarians. Ms. Harris often speaks at conferences and teaches online courses on copyright and licensing. See: http://copyrightlaws.com

THIS ARTICLE IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. THE INFORMATION IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND BRUCE BISBEY MAKES NO EXPRESS OR IMPLIED REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF PERFORMANCE, MERCHANTABILITY, AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, REGARDING THIS INFORMATION. BRUCE BISBEY DOES NOT GUARANTEE THE COMPLETENESS, ACCURACY OR TIMELINESS OF THIS INFORMATION. YOUR USE OF THIS INFORMATION IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. YOU ASSUME FULL RESPONSIBILITY AND RISK OF LOSS RESULTING FROM THE USE OF THIS INFORMATION. BRUCE BISBEY WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, SPECIAL, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES OR ANY OTHER DAMAGES WHATSOEVER, WHETHER IN AN ACTION BASED UPON A STATUTE, CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION NEGLIGENCE) OR OTHERWISE, RELATING TO THE USE OF THIS INFORMATION.

Copyright Infringement / Photo Credit: Francine Ward