Part of the cinematic pipeline: entry point creative-studio
film-legal-distribution
NOT LEGAL ADVICE. This skill organises evidence, checklists and questions so that a qualified entertainment or IP lawyer, an E&O broker and a delivery specialist can work fast. AI research and drafting are not certification. Laws, CBFC rules and platform specs change; every figure below must be re-checked on the live source before use. Releases, licences, contracts and filings are reviewed by a lawyer; draft templates here are starting points, not final forms.
Owner: producer agent (checklists, schedule, budget), with tech-writer for documents. Sign-off and any outward step: the user. Return legal and censorship questions to the Manager for qualified counsel.
It extends, and does not repeat, film-studio/references/delivery-and-legal.md (master specs, DCP, copyright rules of thumb, CBFC basics, consent file). Read that first; this skill holds the deeper process. Music for the film: music-and-sound. Voices: voice-studio (consent). Credits and posters: title-and-key-art. Tracking: production-tracking.
1. Router
| Need | Open |
|---|---|
| Chain of title, script rights, AI ownership (India, US), consent templates | references/rights-and-releases.md |
| Music licensing, IPRS, PPL, sync, E&O insurance | references/music-and-insurance.md |
| CBFC process, categories, e-Cinepramaan, AI declaration | references/cbfc-india.md |
| Delivery specs by platform, DCP, subtitles, QC | references/delivery-specs.md |
| Festival strategy, AI festivals, release checklist | references/festivals-and-checklist.md |
| Load this file plus at most two references per step. |
2. Intake (state defaults in one line)
- Release route: YouTube, Indian OTT, Netflix or Amazon via an aggregator or sales agent, festival, theatre (CBFC needed), or a mix. Default: festival then YouTube.
- Territory and languages; certification needed? Default: India, original plus English subtitles.
- Story source: original, client script, adaptation (needs a rights purchase or option), public domain (verify).
- People: any real likeness, voice or performer; any minors.
- Music: original score and songs, licensed tracks, library music.
- Budget and timeline for legal, E&O, DCP, QC (all need the user's yes before spend).
3. Core principles
- Evidence of human authorship: keep scripts, boards, edit decisions, prompts and versions with dates (film-studio delivery-and-legal.md section 6).
- Everything you did not create needs a signed paper: script, music, performer, location, font, stock, tool terms.
- Consent for any real person is written, specific (face, voice, name separately), with scope, term, territory, revocation (rights-and-releases.md).
- Originals only. No protected characters, worlds, names, franchises, living artists as targets, no copyrighted lyrics or melodies.
- Disclose AI use truthfully per platform and festival; label realistic synthetic people and events.
- Do the rights file as you go, not at the end. Distributors and insurers review the whole chain before they pay or cover (3P).
- Nothing is submitted, uploaded, licensed, signed or paid by an agent. The user decides; a lawyer reviews.
4. Where AI sits in the rights picture (summary, details in rights-and-releases.md)
- India (3P, law-firm commentary, 2026): section 2(d)(vi) of the Copyright Act 1957 names "the person who causes the work to be created" as author of computer-generated works; commentary says AI itself is not an author, the clause predates generative AI, there is no settled court ruling on purely AI-generated output, and ANI v OpenAI is pending in the Delhi High Court. Treat ownership of AI-made material as uncertain and document human contribution.
- US (F, 3P law-firm summaries): the Supreme Court denied certiorari in Thaler v Perlmutter on 2 March 2026, leaving the human authorship requirement intact; the Copyright Office's January 2025 guidance says prompts alone are not enough, human selection, arrangement, editing and original expressive input can be protected.
- Platforms and insurers: E&O underwriters now ask about AI likenesses, voices and creative elements and whether clearances exist (3P, broker guides 2026).
5. Gates
- G-L1 (before generation of any real-person or adapted material): consents signed, adaptation rights secured, IP check clean.
- G-L2 (picture lock): music licences logged, credits approved, AI-use statement drafted, chain-of-title file complete.
- G-L3 (before submission or release): delivery QC passed on the real files, CBFC route decided, E&O quote requested if the buyer needs it, lawyer sign-off recorded, the user's explicit yes. Failed gate: stop, fix the paper, rerun the gate. Never ship on a promise to "fix it later".
6. Release checklist (short form; full in references/festivals-and-checklist.md)
- Chain-of-title file complete; lawyer review recorded.
- All releases signed: talent, voice (incl. digital replica), location, minors with guardian.
- Music: sync and master (or originals with composer assignment); IPRS and PPL position known; cue sheet done.
- Credits approved; fonts and logos licensed.
- AI disclosure per platform and festival; director's statement on AI use.
- CBFC dossier or an explicit "online only" decision confirmed by counsel.
- Master archived with checksum; deliverables QC'd; subtitles and audio sidecars.
- E&O if required; title search or clearance report.
- Poster, trailer, stills, press kit from title-and-key-art, rights cleared.
- The user's explicit yes before any publish, submission or send.
7. Report to the Manager (10 lines max)
Gate status (G-L1 to G-L3), open legal questions for counsel, missing signatures, licence gaps, deadline risks (CBFC and festival dates), spend asks with quotes, what the user must approve.