Re: Kansas firm sells candid Wal-Mart videos

I'd have to say this would qualify as a breach of normal "best practices" for business relationships even though I am not a fan of Wal Mart in any way...


If they issued an invoice and got paid, it does imply some sort of work product is purchased, but of course if they can make the old "photographer owns the negatives and base rights" deal stick if there is no agreement about what exactly constitutes the deliverable that was paid for...they might survive legally. However, I suspect that the opinion stated here that they may survive the battle only to lose the war is correct.


Frankly, I suspect that Flagler would have done better financially if...

(after some serious time with some serious legal experts who could confirm ownership of the footage, or at least confirm it was completely in question...)

...they'd edited a little "greatest hits" video out of the archive and gone in and done a little sales presentation...if money was what they wanted, keeping the video from seeing the light of day would have been far more valuable to Wal Mart than mopping up after the dirty laundry is opened to the public.

It's a tough deal for a production company that has clearly had all it's eggs in one basket for a loooong time, which is a self-created peril anyway, made worse by a colossally petty and foolishly unprofessional stunt when the ride ended...










TimK,
Director, Consultant
Kolb Productions,

CPO, Digieffects