“Optical toys, shadow shows, 'magic lanterns,' and visual tricks have existed for thousands of years. Many inventors, scientists, and manufacturers have observed the visual phenomenon that a series of individual still pictures set into motion created the illusion of movement - a concept termed persistence of vision. This illusion of motion was first described by British physician Peter Mark Roget in 1824, and was a first step in the development of the cinema.” (The History of Film the Pre-1920s: Early Cinematic Origins and the Infancy of Film Part 1 from http://www.filmsite.org/pre20sintro.html)

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In today’s society, we have come a long way from the original concept of “persistence of vision.” 

With all of the developments in film from 1920 to the present, the importance of copyright is crucial.  Now that movies are created by students, big companies, and anyone with a cell phone, copyrighting a motion picture/video is not only important, but financially frugal to do so.  You would want to file an application after your first version of the movie.  Why?  Because you want to protect each and every version of the original works. We are familiar with the painstaking processes of revising your original works.  We know that you are going to make revision after revision of your creative works until you find the version that you are satisfied with to share with the public. It has to be perfect, right? With this in mind, each aspect of these revisions should be protected.  The Motion Picture industry is probably one of the largest users of copyrights because of this process.  So, do not fall between the cracks of this industry. 

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With the growth of the motion picture industry from either a living room, YouTube or the Big Screen, there are several factors that, as a movie writer, director, editor, etc. should know about copyrighting your motion picture and the formalities required to file them in a time sensitive way.  Feel free to take the time to read Circular 45 which goes into the technical aspects of filing a copyright application for a motion picture.

 

You are in the right place to complete this process.  We can get you started today and assign you your own intellectual property virtual assistant who will work with you through the entire process till you get federally protected.