Quote:
Originally Posted by LB-69
Actually that is the reason I didnt sign a contract last year. Been introduced to someone, but havent go forward, cause I heard that this distributor fucked some producers over their rights/content.
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I'm not going to call anyone out in public, as they did not fuck me directly over, but if you are in question of someone, hit me up and I will let you know if I know anything about them. It doesn't take but 1 or 2 conversations with producers before you start to see who to hear who got fucked over.
It really can be tricky. You are basically letting someone else house your product and control it. If they bootleg it and are selling those first, you will never know. If they sell it for more than they tell you they are selling it for, you lose money. They may claim the company they sold to is not paying them and late pay you, or claim they got fucked, so you get fucked. They may steal your content and sell the foreign rights (or domestic) as a totally different movie. If you want to get in on foreign rights, that means the distributor must have DVcam tapes to copy and send them. They will also have full res artwork that you made for your cover. That means they can pretty much have their way with it if they choose to.
Then you have to factor in that you do not live there, nor are you even American. So if they fuck you, what could you do? New guys tend to get fucked the most because they have no leverage or understanding of the business.
You were smart to not jump at the first company that wanted your product. You did the right thing. Too many guys are so desperate to "get a deal" that they will do anything to get their movies on the shelf and they get fucked and shut out just as fast as they came in. Though even industry vets get fucked too. You just really have to do your due diligence and research every company you may work with. There are a few of them left but fewer and fewer just want to put out their own product and it's getting more difficult to get someone who will allow you to retain rights.
Oh... also read your contract VERY carefully about how the content can be used. Make sure THEY do not end up with any rights that would allow them to put your movies on a pay site of theirs OR sell it as content to other webmasters. I know a few guys who got fucked over that was as well. Very nasty. You would then be in competition with your own content on another site. I've seen it happen.