Navigating the rights minefield: business affairs and copyright... with Ben Green - production management

As part of our Mind your business strand, we're offering training in a range of areas related to business management & development, production finance, legal & business affairs, rights, and compliance, giving individuals the tools needed to thrive in their chosen field in unscripted TV.

A practical session covering the essentials of ‘Rights’ and Business Affairs, offering TV and other content production professionals and trainees both awareness and guidance when navigating the complexity of rights and intellectual property.

Designed to give attendees a broad knowledge and respect for the various rights within any sound or audio-visual programme or recording, it includes tips and advice on ‘clearance’ of existing third-party copyright material (and when clearance may not be required), Risk Assessment, things to watch out for and finding alternative material.

Who it's for

Production managers, junior production managers and co-ordinators in unscripted TV who need to know more about Rights and Business Affairs, and/or who has to negotiate rights on a regular basis.  

If you work in another area of unscripted TV, please apply for Navigating the rights minefield: business affairs and copyright... with Ben Green instead.

The majority of the USF online short course offering is for those at early career stage and above. As a result, we generally require applicants to have at least 3 credits (unless working in a traditionally uncredited role). If you strongly feel you would still benefit from the training, please email USF@screenskills.com so we can assess if an exception should be made.

We are committed to ensuring all our courses are accessible to everyone. This course is designed to be as interactive as possible. Please email the above address if you have any access requirements and we will be delighted to help, be that clarifying the form such interaction is likely to take or discussing reasonable adjustments.

What it covers

• What are Rights? What does ‘Business Affairs’ cover
• Copyright – the basics, ‘Exceptions’
• Breakdown of Programme / Contributor Rights
• Contracting and ‘clearances’ of existing copyright (from early development through to production, and why clearance is necessary).
• Framework Agreements
• Fair Dealing & Risk Assessment
• Difficult areas, and advice on alternatives
• Investment, Co-Production Agreements & Collaborations.
• Distribution

How to apply

This session will take place online via Zoom. Click ‘apply now’ at the top of the page and follow the instructions to apply for your place: you must login or register before you are able to complete your application.

If you need additional support to complete your application or require the application form in an alternative format please contact USF@screenskills.com

Places on these free online courses are limited and applications are often highly competitive. To stand the best chance of securing a place, please be sure to consider the following:

• When asked to list your three most recent credits, please include the programme title and your job role.
• When asked what you hope to gain from the course, please be concise but ensure you cover the specific elements of the topic you would like to gain knowledge of and what gaps in your skillset you believe the course may address. A rewording of the course title or a general comment on career progression does not tell us much about how this course would benefit you.

If you are no longer able to attend, we ask you to please use the 'decline ticket' function on the right hand side of the page so that we can release your place. Our sessions are often oversubscribed, so we’d like to give other freelancers the opportunity to fill available spots. Thank you for your consideration.

This session is supported by the ScreenSkills Unscripted TV Skills Fund which invests in training for the unscripted workforce thanks to contributions from broadcasters, SVoDs and production companies.

This course would normally cost participants to attend, but thanks to this support, we are able to offer it to you for free. If you fail to attend, we reserve the right to request reimbursement of costs, unless your place can be taken by someone else.