Forum Moderators: not2easy
But here's my question: I was recently quoted in the DVD boxcover art of one of the movies I reviewed. It's properly attributed to me, and my site, but I didn't know about it until a reader wrote me and told me.
I was always under the impression that people who wanted to use part of your reviews (you know, like all those Roger Ebert "thumbs up!" quotes) that they had to ask you for permission first. Am I wrong about this? My reviews have been quote a lot in newspaper articles or movie promotionals, but no one has ever (that I know of) put my writing on a blurb on the DVD they are selling.
I'm asking because I'm confused. I always thought they would ask for my permission before they did this, since they're hawking their movie using my "good name", as it were. Am i mistaken?
P.S. I'm not asking because I want to sue them or anything, I just would like to know the legalities of this type of thing.
Agreed. IMO, this is about 2 sentences maximum.
Well, I did say them, and I suppose it was in context. But then again, how much "out of context" can you get with 4/5 words?
I wonder about it when you get a quote like "Awesome" attributed to some popular newspaper or mag in the blurb. Did the full review actually say something like, "The lighting was awesome, but the plot, cast and music were terrible." If it's on last year's chip papers, who ever bothers to look it up?
LOL. Yeah, my review was actually something along that line.
Now, this could be bad advertising for you -- if it really is a bad movie, people will see your "good" review on the box and say "huh, this person doesn't know a thing about movies." If you get semi-misquoted on enough products, suddenly you can develop a reputation which can turn people away from your product -- bad news!
Legally, there's no much you can do... Fair use permits it, and while cutting the "no" out of "this movie was no good!" will qualify as misrepresentation in court, just about anything short of that won't.
Your best way to protect yourself is really just to write with this in mind -- when you're done writing the article, look around and see what could be taken out of context. These phrases usually stand out pretty distinctly, so it shouldn't be too time-consuming. If your overall impression of a movie is negative, don't say "the lighting was awesome," use something a bit softer like "despite a few strong points, such as the lighting"... "A few strong points!" isn't going to grace any covers, you know? Plus, it's generally stronger writing, to boot -- there are some people who can go back and forth between opposing points and come off as thoughtful, rather than wishy-washy, but they're the exception to the rule.
