10 Things The Wedding Industry Won’t Tell You…#8
Posted on Mar 09, 2009 under Wedding Vendors | No Comment
8. “This is the first time I’ve ever used a video camera.”
How do you know if it’s the next George Lucas you’ve hired to shoot your wedding — or Ed Wood? “If someone was charging $800 for a wedding on a Saturday, I’d be suspicious,” says Jack O’Brien of Video Life Productions in Middletown, N.Y. The high-end digital equipment that a professional videographer should use costs tens of thousands of dollars — too much to justify package prices under $1,000.
It’s also important to hire someone who will let you have the digital master tape, in addition to the VHS copy. “Anyone who holds a VHS tape in their hands thinking they’re going to show it to their grandchildren is mistaken,” says O’Brien. He recommends transferring the tape from the digital master to a DVD.
Then there’s the question of who owns the footage. On many contracts, it is written that any and all footage becomes the copyrighted property of the videographer’s business. So what can a couple do if an unscrupulous or unknowing videographer tries to sell a hideously embarrassing moment on their tape to, say, a TV-blooper show? “They would have a right-of-privacy claim, so it would certainly be a mistake,” says Lisa Alter, a New York entertainment and copyright lawyer. “But technically, if you own it, you can do what you want with it.”