Copyright Protection Of Filmed Images

At Camerimage í98, the annual cinematographers film festival held in Torun, Poland in December, professional symposiums were highlighted by proposals to give cinematographers copyright protection of their filmed images. The discussions reflected a recent, mostly European-based movement by cinematography groups to harmonize various national laws and codify others to thwart abuses such as format alteration and re-editing for television (""formatted to fit your TV screen"").""Today, itís impossible for cinematographers to protect their filmed images,"" said festival director Marek Zydowicz. ""Maybe we can start something worldwide, whereby the cinematographer claims authorship of the film image,"" said Laszlo Kovacs, ASC who was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award.Frederic-Gerard Kaczek, a spokesman for the pan-European cinematography society Imago, noted that guidelines of the new European Union economic cooperative on the continent require all nations to honor legal safeguards granted by any one company. Therein lies the means for cinematographers to claim their artist rights. Kaczek said that Bulgaria is the only country whose laws give cinematographers authorship rights over filmed images. And since it is believed that Bulgaria might eventually be offered membership in the European Union, all other member-countries would have to honor its laws ñ cinematographer artist rights included.