Bricks in Motion
We are a friendly filmmaking community devoted to the art of stop-motion animation using LEGO® and similar construction toys. Here, you can share your work, join our community of other brickfilmers, and participate in periodic animation contests!
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Hi,
Are you allowed to make brickfilms with licensed LEGO like Lord of the Ring, Star Wars or Harry Potter?
Can you do a remake of a scene from Star Wars in LEGO or are you lot allowed?
Are there any examples of brickfilmers have had problems in these areas?
As long as you don't use copyrighted music or video (so the actual music or footage from these movies) then you're fine, though pretty much everyone on the site would advise you not to do a straight remake of a movie in LEGO for about a thousand good reasons.
Work on something smaller and more manageable, and something with an original plot. Want to do LEGO Batman? Make your own LEGO Batman story and go with that - don't remake The Dark Knight.
Hope this helps!
I have actually been wondering about this also. I am making LEGO Star Wars videos on YouTube, and have been offered to put ads on them (multiple times) so I can earn some money. Even though I have seen a lot of other LEGO Star Wars videos with ads on them, I still haven't done it yet, as I am unsure as to weather or not this is completely legal.
I have an original story and use royalty free music, but it has "Star Wars" in its name and includes some of its characters like Commander Cody. I'm sure that if Warner Bros made a film set in the Star Wars universe, without having the rights from the owners, they would get in trouble.
Of course, my films are supposed to be "fanfilms" that pay tribute to Star Wars. And I am not directly selling anything, as people don't pay to see the film. I just get paid if they click any of the advertisements.
So, would it be okay to have ads on a brickfilm (on YouTube) set in the Star Wars universe?
It’s not about doing a remake of an entire movie, just at small part. A scene maybe. A side by side, like this one as an example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhPColE_3_8
He also used the soundtrack.
Are you allowed to do that?
Are there any examples of brickfilmers have had problems in these areas?
Basically, the whole of YouTube is a grey area.
Tom B, don't use the soundtrack, especially not just because someone else did. You'll get into trouble - your video will either be taken down or muted.
Drannion Entertainment, YouTube's a grey area. Yes, it's a fanfilm, and you can make money through advertising. Having Star Wars in the name appears to be fine, as there are people who make lots of money on the site through fanfilms, just as long as you don't use any audio, video or graphics that is copyrighted.
It's not a precise science, and there doesn't appear to be a cohesive rulebook, but it's the best we've got. Hope this helps!
with the Star Wars soundtracks, you can use them all you want and the videos will only be taken down in Germany or something. I know this because I used to use John Williams score for everything (I was in fifth grade, so I wasn't learned about copyright law) and the copyright owners for the Star Wars soundtrack are very leniant about it. I have no idea why but I have never gotten a video taken down.
That being said, be wary!
with the Star Wars soundtracks, you can use them all you want and the videos will only be taken down in Germany or something. I know this because I used to use John Williams score for everything (I was in fifth grade, so I wasn't learned about copyright law) and the copyright owners for the Star Wars soundtrack are very leniant about it. I have no idea why but I have never gotten a video taken down.
That being said, be wary!
Just because it worked for you doesn't mean it'll work for everyone else - I know plenty of people who've used the John Williams score and had it taken down. Also, I have no idea about that Germany business but it doesn't sound like it can be right.
When in doubt, go royalty-free.
I've always wondered if one day, everyone who made characters with a certain franchise would suddenly be shut down at once. It's just speculation; hopefully, that won't ever happen.
*shivers*
Holy Hera, I hope not.
Who is Hera?
Hera is the patron goddess of women on the Greek Pantheon.
Also that would be really hard to shut down all at once, because there isn't really a content identification system like there is with music. As it is right now, most computers cannot in a reasonable amount of time pick out images of specific lego figurines and flag the videos.
HoldingOurOwn, have you never seen Hercules? 
There's plenty of brickfilmers who have made money off youtube by making money of Star Wars brickfilms, so you should be fine.
If I ever made a Star Wars brickfilm or a Batman brickfilm I would probably attempt to use some official music. I'd make sure my vid wasn't monetized in any way though!
Also, could you mark your vid as fair use? Isn't the music being looked at in a new, creative way because it's being paired with a new(ish) story? Or would that be too big of a stretch?
I believe what you want to do counts as 'fair use' -as long as you refrain from using copyrighted music. Youtube is a grey area, so I'm sure you can do whatever it is you want to do -monetization included.
I've made a few videos with Batman in them, but whenever I do, I don't put ads onto them or put them into festivals.
I also used music from the Harry Potter video games in The Lost Invention.
I thought that it would be much safer to use music from an old video game rather than something more popular. So far I haven't run into any issues with that.
But I generally try to stay away from unoriginal material. It's better to be more original.
I however, don't really live by this because I have spent the last three year of my life trying to make a LEGO Batman epic.
Gabatay with me.
How do you mark your vid as fair use?
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