WHAT PRODUCERS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT LIFE STORY RIGHTS

What are life rights? Simply put, life rights are the right to tell a person’s life story or a specific event in their life and use their name & even their image & likeness.
I have noticed over the years that many people have the mistaken belief that you need a life rights agreement from a person to tell their story, which is incorrect. No person has the exclusive right to tell their own story & producers have a First Amendment right to use publicly available information such as books, articles, interviews, etc.
The real purpose of obtaining life story rights is to get a release from liability from the subject or subjects of your project, especially if you are making a narrative film or television series as opposed to a documentary & will be fictionalizing events as you cannot defame, portray the subjects of the story in a false light or invade their privacy.
If you obtain life story rights, you minimize the risk of a lawsuit by getting a release of claims for defamation, right of publicity, false light, & intentional infliction of emotional distress. In addition, producers will have the cooperation, participation & input of the subject of the project and potential access to family, friends & materials such as journals, family photos, emails, text messages, etc.
There are ten major deal points that producers need to negotiate with the subject in the life rights agreement:
1. Money. How much will the producers pay the subject both for option periods during which the producer has the right to exploit the life story rights & for the exercise of the rights.
2. Option periods. How long will the producer have the exclusive option to acquire the rights, and how many extensions on that option will the producers have, if any.
3. Control. Producers should always seek to have unrestricted use of the rights instead of providing any approval rights to the subject, including script approval, as that will likely breed massive problems for producers.
4. Participation. What will be the subject’s level of participation? Will the subject be a consultant, participate in marketing & publicity, etc.
5. Scope. Will producers have unfettered access & use of the subject’s entire life story, or is it limited to a particular event or period & are specific matters in the subject’s life off-limits such as a stint in rehab, arrests, divorce, etc.
6. Release. Releases of liability are one of the most critical aspects of the agreement as the subject releases the producers from liability for all applicable causes of action. Also, the subject can be obligated to secure releases from their family members & other persons involved, or they can be contracted to reasonably cooperate & assist with such releases.
7. Term. The term of the rights granted, which can be in perpetuity, revert to the subject after a fixed period or in the event the project is not produced after the exercise of the rights.
8. Fictionalize. The right of producers to fictionalize events & characters as the producers see fit.
9. Exclusivity. Will the producers have the exclusive right to the life story, or will it be limited & the subject has the right to participate in documentaries, news stories, etc.
10. Rights. What is the extent of the rights granted - one project, or does it include the right to make sequels, prequels, remakes, & other derivative works.
There are, of course other terms, including credit and potentially reserved rights, but these are the most significant terms.
A life story can be a fantastic basis for a film or TV project, but producers must understand life story rights & the life story agreements.