Film Clearance Lawyers Adelaide: Appearance and Location Releases, Privacy, Footage and Works in Shot
Film releases and clearances in South Australia
A distributor will ask who signed what before it takes a film, and a missing release found after the edit is locked is the expensive kind. Talon Legal prepares appearance, interview and location releases, clears footage and works in shot, and reviews productions before delivery for South Australian producers, documentary makers and agencies. Book a same-day free 30-minute consultation or call (08) 7094 2021.
Film clearance key facts
| Issue | Position in South Australia |
|---|---|
| Privacy | Since 10 June 2025, an individual can sue for a serious invasion of privacy by intrusion upon seclusion or misuse of information, where the invasion was intentional or reckless (Privacy Act Schedule 2, clause 7(1)). |
| Consent | It is a defence that the person, or someone with lawful authority for them, expressly or impliedly consented (clause 8(1)(b)). |
| Artistic expression | Freedom of expression, including artistic expression, and freedom of the media are public interests weighed against privacy (clause 7(3)). |
| Remedies | Include an injunction and an order that material obtained or made through the invasion be destroyed or delivered up (clauses 9 and 12). |
| Journalists | The privacy tort does not apply to professional journalists, their employers and assistants for journalistic material, which includes material with the character of a documentary (clause 15). |
| Buildings | Including a building in a film does not infringe its copyright (Copyright Act section 66). |
| Artworks in shot | Including an artistic work in a film does not infringe if the inclusion is only incidental to the principal matters shown (section 67). |
| Footage | A short clip can be a substantial part of a film, judged by quality rather than quantity (sections 14(1) and 86; EMI Songs v Larrikin at [52]). |
| Live events | Recording a performance without the performer's authority is an unauthorised use, unless the film is an exempt recording, such as one made for news or for criticism or review (sections 248A(1) and 248G(1)). |
| Confidential material | Equity protects specific, confidential information received in confidence against misuse (Optus v Telstra at [39]). |
| First step | Same-day free 30-minute consultation. Call (08) 7094 2021. |
Need a film clearance lawyer in Adelaide?
Our film clearance lawyers in Adelaide act for producers, documentary makers, production companies and agencies. Clearance means confirming that the production has the rights and permissions for everything on screen and in the sound-track: the people, the places, the artworks and footage in shot, the music and the story. The Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) and the statutory privacy tort in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) set most of the rules. This page states the law current to 24 October 2026.
This guide is part of our media and entertainment practice. Related guides cover film and TV production agreements and music licensing, sync and composer agreements.
For releases from customers, staff and talent used in advertising, see our guides to testimonial and image consents and influencer and endorsement agreements.
For photographers’ terms and image licences, see our guide to photography terms and conditions.
Free Consultation. Send us the script, the shooting plan or the cut. Book a same-day free 30-minute consultation or call (08) 7094 2021.
On this page
- What does a production need to clear?
- When can filming invade someone's privacy?
- What should appearance and interview releases say?
- Do documentary makers have a journalism exemption?
- What should a location agreement cover?
- Can buildings, artworks and logos appear in shot?
- How is archive footage cleared?
- Can a concert or live event be filmed?
- How is confidential material protected?
- What goes in the clearance file?
- How similar matters tend to play out
- How we act on film clearances
- Case law
- Frequently asked questions
What does a production need to clear?
Everything it does not own. The story and script come first, through options, assignments and writers’ agreements, covered in our script options and adaptation rights guide. Then come the people who appear, the locations, the buildings, artworks and products in shot, any archive footage or stills, the music, and the performers at any live event that is filmed.
Each item is a separate permission, often from a different person. A clearance review works through the script before the shoot and the cut before delivery, so that every element on screen is either owned, licensed, released or within an exception the production can rely on.
When can filming invade someone’s privacy?
When the elements of the statutory tort are met. Since 10 June 2025, an individual can sue where the defendant invaded their privacy by intruding upon their seclusion or misusing information that relates to them, a person in their position would have had a reasonable expectation of privacy, the invasion was intentional or reckless and serious, and the public interest in their privacy outweighed any countervailing public interest (Privacy Act Schedule 2, clause 7(1)). It is actionable without proof of damage (clause 7(2)).
The reasonable expectation test turns on the facts. The court may consider the means used, including any device or technology, the purpose, the person’s attributes, whether they invited publicity or showed a desire for privacy, and, for an intrusion, the place where it happened (clause 7(5)). For misuse of information, it does not matter whether the information is true (clause 7(7)).
The public interest side matters for film. Countervailing public interests include freedom of expression, including artistic expression, and freedom of the media (clause 7(3)). The remedies are serious for a production: an injunction can be granted at any stage, with particular regard to the public interest in publication (clause 9), and the court can order that material obtained or made through the invasion be destroyed or delivered up (clause 12(2)(e)). Proceedings must generally start before the earlier of 1 year after the person became aware of the invasion and 3 years after it happened (clause 14(1)).
No action can be brought for an invasion of the privacy of a person who has died (clause 20(1)), but a film about a deceased person can still disclose information about living relatives. A film about real people can also raise defamation questions, which turn on what the final cut conveys and are reviewed on that cut.
What should appearance and interview releases say?
Enough to prove consent to the actual use. It is a defence to the privacy tort that the person, or a person having lawful authority to do so for them, expressly or impliedly consented to the invasion (clause 8(1)(b)). A signed release is express consent in writing, and a parent or guardian with authority should sign for a child.
A release for a featured person or interviewee usually records consent to being filmed and recorded, to editing, and to use of the footage, name, voice and likeness in the production, its promotion and later versions, in all media and territories, without an obligation to use it. It should say what, if anything, is paid. For background people, notices at the location may support implied consent, but anyone featured should sign.
A film clearance lawyer will check that the release matches the production. A release given for a student film or a single broadcast may not cover a feature, a series or a different platform, and the production should not discover the gap at delivery.
Do documentary makers have a journalism exemption?
Some do. The privacy tort does not apply to a journalist, a journalist’s employer or engager, or certain assistants, to the extent the invasion involves collecting, preparing for publication or publishing journalistic material (clause 15(1)). It also does not apply to the publication or distribution of journalistic material prepared for publication by a journalist (clause 15(1A)).
The definitions decide who qualifies. A journalist is a person who works in a professional capacity as a journalist and is subject to standards of professional conduct or a code of practice that applies to journalists (clause 15(2)). Journalistic material includes material that has the character of news, current affairs or a documentary (clause 15(3)). A court can decide whether the exemption applies at any stage, and a pre-trial application is to be decided as soon as practicable (clause 8A).
An independent documentary maker who does not work professionally as a journalist under such standards may not be covered, and should rely on releases and the public interest balance instead.
What should a location agreement cover?
Access, use and what can be shown. A location agreement is the owner’s permission to enter and film, and it should cover the dates and areas, what may be filmed, whether the property and its name or signage may be shown or must be disguised, set dressing and restoration, damage and insurance, the fee, and the production’s right to use the footage in the production and its promotion indefinitely.
The building itself is rarely the problem. Copyright in a building is not infringed by including it in a film, and publishing the film does not infringe either (Copyright Act sections 66 and 68). The issues are permission to be on the property, artworks and other material inside it, and people who live or work there. Council or other permits may be needed for filming in public places, and should be checked early.
Can buildings, artworks and logos appear in shot?
Often, within limits. Sculptures and works of artistic craftsmanship situated, other than temporarily, in a public place or premises open to the public can be included in a film (section 65(2)). An artistic work included in a film only incidentally to the principal matters shown does not infringe (section 67), and publishing such a film does not infringe (section 68).
The limits are where clearances are needed. Murals and street art are usually paintings, which the public place exception does not cover (section 65), so unless their inclusion is only incidental they need the copyright owner’s licence, usually the artist’s (section 67). A painting hung on a set and featured in close-up, or a poster used as a plot point, is unlikely to be incidental.
Logos and branded products are commonly cleared or obscured as a matter of practice, particularly where a product is shown in a negative light. The incidental inclusion rule applies only to artistic works, so music, footage and text seen or heard in shot have to be assessed on their own.
How is archive footage cleared?
By licence from the owner of the film. The copyright in a film includes the exclusive rights to copy it, cause it to be seen or heard in public and communicate it to the public (section 86). A short clip can still be a substantial part, because doing an act in relation to a substantial part counts as doing it to the whole (section 14(1)), and substantiality turns on quality rather than quantity, as Emmett J explained for music in EMI Songs Australia Pty Ltd v Larrikin Music Publishing Pty Ltd [2011] FCAFC 47 at [52].
A footage licence should cover the length of the clip, the media, territory and term of the production’s release, and the licensor’s warranty of ownership. Footage often contains other material, such as music, performances and identifiable people, which may need clearances of their own.
Where the owner cannot be found, the law changed on 2 April 2026. Part V Division 2AAA limits the remedies available against a user who made a reasonably diligent search within a reasonable period before the use, kept a record of it, could not identify and locate the owner, and gave a clear and reasonably prominent notice (sections 116AAD and 116AAE). The court may still order a reasonable payment to the owner (section 116AAD).
Can a concert or live event be filmed?
Generally only with the performers’ authority. Making a recording of a performance, or communicating it to the public live, without the performer’s authority is an unauthorised use (section 248G(1)). A film made for reporting news or current affairs, or for criticism or review, is an exempt recording and outside that rule (section 248A(1), definitions of exempt recording and recording), but it stops being exempt if it is used for another purpose without the performers’ authority (section 248C(2)). The songs performed and any recordings played need clearing too, as our music licensing guide explains.
Performers also have moral rights. A performer has a right of attribution of performership (section 195ABA), satisfied by any reasonable form of identification, and a group name is enough for performers who perform under it (section 195ABC). A performer also has a right of integrity, the right not to have the performance subjected to derogatory treatment (section 195ALA). An event agreement should deal with filming, credits and edits, and session and band releases are covered in our artist management and band agreements guide.
How is confidential material protected?
By contract and in equity. Scripts, cuts, unreleased footage and production plans are often confidential. Equity protects information that is identified with specificity, has the necessary quality of confidence, was received in circumstances importing an obligation of confidence, and is misused or threatened with misuse without consent (Optus Networks Pty Ltd v Telstra Corporation Ltd [2010] FCAFC 21 at [39]).
A written agreement adds certainty. In that case an exhaustive contractual definition of confidential information did not exclude the parties’ equitable obligations of confidence ([29]), and parties can agree that the party alleging misuse may elect between damages for breach of contract and an account of profits ([37]). Confidentiality agreements for crew, cast, investors and test audiences, with controlled access to cuts, keep the production’s material within that protection.
What goes in the clearance file?
The proof behind every element on screen. A clearance file usually holds the chain of title documents, appearance, interview and location releases, licences for footage, stills, artworks and music, the music cue sheet, performer consents, and the clearance review of the script and the final cut. Distributors, broadcasters and streaming services usually ask for these documents before accepting delivery, and often require errors and omissions insurance.
Credits belong in the file too. The right of attribution is a positive right, and crediting the wrong person can be false attribution with no need to prove intention (Meskenas v ACP Publishing Pty Ltd [2006] FMCA 1136 at [18] and [31]). For moral rights in the film and the works in it, a written consent covers acts within its scope (section 195AW).
How similar matters tend to play out
Three illustrations of how the law on this page combines on ordinary facts. They are not predictions. Outcome depends on the documents, the evidence and the court.
Lower range. A short documentary films a crowd in Rundle Mall and interviews three shoppers. The interviewees sign releases (Privacy Act Schedule 2, clause 8(1)(b)). For the crowd, the place, the means and the purpose all bear on any reasonable expectation of privacy (clause 7(5)), and a person who becomes featured without signing is released or obscured.
Middle range. A drama shoots a scene in front of a well-known mural, which appears in several shots. A mural is a painting, outside the public place exception (Copyright Act section 65), and featured in several shots its inclusion is unlikely to be only incidental (section 67). A licence from the artist, with a credit, resolves it.
Upper range. An independent documentary about a local dispute uses private documents and footage of a person filmed at home without their knowledge, and the person sues before release. Remedies include an injunction and the destruction or delivery up of material (Schedule 2, clauses 9 and 12), and the court weighs the public interest in privacy against countervailing interests such as freedom of the media (clause 7(1)(e) and (3)). Whether the journalist exemption applies depends on who made the film and the standards they work under (clause 15).
How we act on film clearances
We act for producers, documentary makers, production companies and agencies. The aim is a production that a distributor, broadcaster or insurer can accept without questions, and a clearance file that answers them if they are asked.
| Stage | What happens | What we do |
|---|---|---|
| Development | The script and plan take shape. | Review the script for people, places, works and music that need clearing. |
| Pre-production | Locations and contributors are booked. | Draft appearance, interview and location releases and confidentiality agreements. |
| Production | Filming takes place. | Advise on set: artworks in shot, live events and late releases. |
| Post-production | The cut is assembled. | Clear footage, stills and music, check credits and review the locked cut. |
| Delivery | A distributor or broadcaster takes the film. | Assemble the chain of title and clearance file. |
We cannot promise an outcome, and no lawyer can. We can make sure the questions a distributor asks have answers before delivery.
Every hour matters. Book a same-day free 30-minute consultation, or call (08) 7094 2021 now.
Film clearance case law
None of the decisions below concerned a film release. Optus v Telstra concerned confidential information under a commercial agreement, Meskenas v ACP concerned the credit given for an artistic work, and EMI v Larrikin concerned music.
| Case | Court | Principle | Pinpoint |
|---|---|---|---|
| Optus Networks Pty Ltd v Telstra Corporation Ltd [2010] FCAFC 21 | Full Federal Court | Elements of breach of confidence; an exhaustive contractual definition did not exclude equitable obligations | [29], [37], [39] |
| Meskenas v ACP Publishing Pty Ltd [2006] FMCA 1136 | Federal Magistrates Court | Crediting the wrong artist infringed the rights of attribution and against false attribution | [18], [31] |
| EMI Songs Australia Pty Ltd v Larrikin Music Publishing Pty Ltd [2011] FCAFC 47 | Full Federal Court | Substantial part judged by quality and by importance to the copyright work | [52], [53], [226] |
Case notes
Optus Networks Pty Ltd v Telstra Corporation Ltd [2010] FCAFC 21
The Full Court allowed an appeal and gave judgment for Optus on its claim in equity (orders). It held that the agreement’s exhaustive definition of confidential information did not show an intention to exclude equitable obligations of confidence ([29]), said there was no reason parties could not agree that the party alleging misuse may elect between contract damages and an account of profits ([37]), and set out the four elements of breach of confidence ([39]). Production confidentiality agreements sit alongside the same equitable protection.
Meskenas v ACP Publishing Pty Ltd [2006] FMCA 1136
A magazine published a photograph of a portrait and named the wrong painter. The Court held the right of attribution is a positive right and, since nothing prevented the painter being identified, the reasonableness defence failed ([18]). False attribution means attribution that is objectively incorrect, with no need to prove intention ([31]). The painter was awarded $9,100 (orders). Credits in a film carry the same risk.
EMI Songs Australia Pty Ltd v Larrikin Music Publishing Pty Ltd [2011] FCAFC 47
The Full Court dismissed an appeal from findings that two recordings of “Down Under” reproduced a substantial part of the melody of “Kookaburra” (orders). Emmett J said substantiality depends much more on quality than on quantity, and on the importance of the part to the copyright work rather than to the new work ([52] to [53]). Jagot J noted that about five of 93 bars were involved, in a different key and genre ([226]). A short clip of footage raises the same question of quality over length.
Frequently asked questions
What is a film clearance?
Confirming that a production has the rights and permissions it needs for everything on screen and in the sound-track: the story, the people, the locations, works and footage in shot, and the music.
Does everyone on camera need to sign a release?
Featured people and interviewees should. Express or implied consent is a defence to the statutory privacy tort, and a signed release is express consent in writing (Privacy Act Schedule 2, clause 8(1)(b)).
Can people be filmed in a public place without consent?
Often, but not always. Whether a person had a reasonable expectation of privacy depends on factors including the place, the means used and the purpose (clause 7(5)), and the invasion must also be serious and intentional or reckless (clause 7(1)).
Do documentary makers have a journalism exemption?
Some do. It covers journalists who work in a professional capacity under professional standards or a code of practice, for journalistic material, which includes material with the character of a documentary (clause 15).
Can a building appear in a film?
Yes. Including a building in a film does not infringe the copyright in it (Copyright Act section 66).
Can artworks appear in the background?
Yes, if their inclusion is only incidental to the principal matters shown (section 67). A featured artwork needs a licence.
Is a short clip of old footage safe to use?
Not necessarily. A short clip can be a substantial part of a film, judged by quality rather than quantity (sections 14(1) and 86; EMI Songs v Larrikin at [52]).
Can a concert or live event be filmed?
Generally only with the performers’ authority. Recording a performance without it is an unauthorised use unless the film is an exempt recording, such as one made for news or review (sections 248A(1) and 248G(1)). The music needs clearing too.
How long does someone have to sue for invasion of privacy?
Generally, before the earlier of 1 year after becoming aware of the invasion and 3 years after it happened, with possible extension to no later than 6 years (Privacy Act Schedule 2, clause 14).
Do I need a film clearance lawyer?
Before the shoot, and again before delivery, yes. A film clearance lawyer can prepare the releases, clear what is in shot and assemble the file a distributor will ask for. A free 30-minute consultation will tell you where you stand.