In preparation for the meeting with Henry I sent an email to him which explained my project and also the issues concerned.
Henry initially pushed me on what I was wanting to achieve with my project and I reiterated that I hoped to raise awareness of the deaths of children but that the video may serve as an educative and preventive tool. I shared with him I had a professional actress ready to play the part of the child. Henry had in the past worked on the JB case so he understood the kind of atrocities inflicted on the children. I shared with Henry that I had met with the OCA ethics committee as I didn’t want to offend anyone. Henry’s session with us had been very helpful and good to know that images in the public domain were okay to use.
My main concerns now were around the need to draw up contracts with the college, participants and anyone I work with who will undertake the camera work.
The main elements that Henry suggested were around the issues of the script and that I would own all the content but I could credit the others involved. They would have no legal rights and could not use the video and I would need to be specific in the contract that the video is only to be used for the degree and exhibition only. Henry advised further that I state in any contract that my role is as original author, producer, director, editor and also the sole distributor. Henry advised me to be specific that the video could not be used without the authors permissions. After the meeting Henry sent me a link to the Artquest website where a few years ago he had published a very relevant document offering some legal guidance to artists. The link is below. I thanked Henry for his time and support and I believe he understood my motivation when I informed him of my research and how many children had died. It was really helpful to meet with Henry and he allayed some of my fears about anyone that may try to use the video inappropriately. Students are lucky to have such an asset in Henry.
Endless Possibilities 