What is the difference between E&O coverage for fiction and documentary?
Hi! It's great to have you here again, in another #MondayBlog.
Today we want to talk to you about E&O (Errors and Omissions) insurance and its different applications in the audiovisual market.
Did you know that, despite being widely disseminated in the cinematographic environment, E&O insurance was not originally created with the aim of serving this market?
In fact, it was created with a mission to cover professionals against liability-related lawsuits. Among these professionals we can mention doctors, lawyers, accountants, among others.
However, cinema has taken E&O and made it part of its negotiations and daily practice. To give you an idea, there are distributors and financiers that only start negotiations for new productions after receiving a copy of the insurance policy.
Which, if you think about it, makes a lot of sense. Well, today, everything is connected. There's always someone filming something and rights can end up being harmed, due to lack of attention.
But our goal today is not to philosophize about this protection, but to tell you about the difference in needs and coverage based on the type of audiovisual project to be covered.
For this conversation, let's talk about the differences between taking out an Errors and Omissions insurance for a work of fiction and a documentary.
Are You Ready?
Once upon a time….
The work of fiction
A work of fiction is when a tale is told to the audience. It is a reality that is absolutely out of reality and that only exists in the author's imagination.
However, it is possible that what is being told looks like something that happened to someone else, and copyright complaints may occur. Or the main character has a name, address or cell phone number, which is the same as another human being, inhabitant of the earth.
Not to mention the famous plagiarism.
So for E&O coverage in works of fiction, much of the coverage should focus on issues related to copyright, trademarks, and even defamation, based on what the characters are saying.
It's no wonder that part of the E&O insurance acceptance process is based on an extensive questionnaire and roadmap release reports, which will want to know if you've already checked for potential legal conflicts based on names, presence of slogans, quotes , images, music and references for audiovisual creation.
For fiction, most of it will be based on issues of copyright, trademarks, and consideration of what the characters are saying, because you can cross that line and defame. Those would be the main differences – you cover all the legal bases, but the emphasis is placed on different areas depending on the nature of the project.
And that's how it happened
The documentary
The field of documentary is that of reality. In general, documentaries tell about something or someone. A historical event, a social change, a behavior, a person who made a difference or shocked the world.
In this type of situation E&O coverage will protect with a focus on privacy issues, defamation issues, copyright and permissions to use history, sound, image, and so on.
From a legal and insurance point of view, the documentary represents more risk.
For example, if it is decided to tell the story of a person who has died, and even though there is enough information that is publicly known, a relative of that person can sue the producer for misuse, or for not having obtained family permission to speak about it publicly.
We have a very interesting recent example to share with you.
Netflix recently released the series Dahmer: An American Cannibal. This series is being rated as the second most watched in the entire history of the platform. But Jeffrey Dahmer's father, Lionel Dahmer, is not happy about it.
According to several national and international newspapers, Lionel is in conversation with a lawyer to sue Netflix, because, according to him, in none of the two productions present on the platform, there was any kind of contact with him before these works were released to the public. He also claims he did not give permission for the use of tapes made by Jeffrey's legal team in the documentary series Talking to a Serial Killer: The Milwaukee Cannibal.
Therefore, when it comes to E&O, maximum effort in taking care of every detail is essential. These lawsuits are becoming increasingly common, including in Brazil.
It is important to be attentive and to have a broker that knows how to advise each production to take out insurance that will really protect what is needed, without leaving room for unnecessary problems.
Prospecto is a specialist in this field and we are always available to offer the best and most dedicated service, accompanied by our expertise gained through years of the insurance and audiovisual market.
Are you going to film? Count on Prospecto!
We look forward to seeing you on our next #MondayBlog.
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