# Film Legal Distribution > Rights, clearance and distribution for AI-assisted films, series and shorts, India first: chain of title, script and story rights, AI-generated content ownership questions (India and US, as of 2026), release templates (model, voice, location, music), music licensing in India (IPRS, PPL, sync), E&O insurance, CBFC certification (U, UA 7+, 13+, 16+, A, S; e-Cinepramaan), AI disclosure rules, delivery specs for festivals (DCP basics), Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, JioHotstar and Indian OTT, festival and AI-film-festival strategy, and a release checklist. Load before any release, submission, licence or contract step. Not legal advice: a qualified lawyer must review every release, licence, certificate filing and distribution contract. - Skill: `rghrmkr1993/film-legal-distribution` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 6 files) - Install (CLI): `npx get-skill add rghrmkr1993/film-legal-distribution` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/rghrmkr1993/film-legal-distribution/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: AI & ML - License: MIT - Author: rghrmkr1993 (https://skillmd.com/u/rghrmkr1993) - Updated: 2026-11-14 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/rghrmkr1993/film-legal-distribution --- 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) 1. 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. 2. Territory and languages; certification needed? Default: India, original plus English subtitles. 3. Story source: original, client script, adaptation (needs a rights purchase or option), public domain (verify). 4. People: any real likeness, voice or performer; any minors. 5. Music: original score and songs, licensed tracks, library music. 6. Budget and timeline for legal, E&O, DCP, QC (all need the user's yes before spend). ## 3. Core principles 1. Evidence of human authorship: keep scripts, boards, edit decisions, prompts and versions with dates (film-studio delivery-and-legal.md section 6). 2. Everything you did not create needs a signed paper: script, music, performer, location, font, stock, tool terms. 3. Consent for any real person is written, specific (face, voice, name separately), with scope, term, territory, revocation (rights-and-releases.md). 4. Originals only. No protected characters, worlds, names, franchises, living artists as targets, no copyrighted lyrics or melodies. 5. Disclose AI use truthfully per platform and festival; label realistic synthetic people and events. 6. Do the rights file as you go, not at the end. Distributors and insurers review the whole chain before they pay or cover (3P). 7. 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.