RIGHT HOLDER: Natural or legal person holding intellectual property rights (copyright, trademark rights, etc.) on an intellectual creation or natural person holding personality rights (image rights, voice rights, etc.).
Note: The rightful owner may manage his rights himself or be represented by another natural or legal person (heir, foundation, agent, etc.).
HOLDER OF THE MEDIA: Natural or legal person who owns, whether exclusively or not, a medium (photo, video, etc.).
Note: The rightful owner does not necessarily own the medium of the intellectual creation over which he holds rights, and the holder of the medium does not necessarily hold rights over the medium he owns.
SOURCING: Research and identification of all the rightful owners of an intellectual creation and/or the holders of a medium.
Note: The Sourcing service is an obligation of means and not of result.
CLEARANCE: Search for the contact details of a rights holder or their representative, making contact and presenting the project, with a view to obtaining the conditions of use of an intellectual creation over which they hold rights.
Further details:
The Clearance service is an obligation of means and not of result.
For any Clearance service, the client must inform Chaînon Manquant of the identity of the rights holder and the desired scope of exploitation. In the event that the context of use and/or the scope of exploitation is modified, the Client must inform Le Chaînon Manquant as soon as possible, in order to inform the rights holders concerned in good time and to adapt the quotation accordingly.
When Le Chaînon Manquant manages to obtain authorisation from a rights holder, this authorisation takes the form of a written agreement by email. In the event that the Client wishes this authorisation to take the form of a contract, the Client must inform Le Chaînon Manquant that they wish to activate a contractual support service in addition.
Le Chaînon Manquant acts as an intermediary between the client and the beneficiaries, and therefore cannot be held responsible if it carries out a Clearance service leading to an unfavourable outcome (total absence of response, unsatisfactory authorisation conditions, refusal, etc.). Nevertheless, Le Chaînon Manquant undertakes to make its best efforts to provide a Clearance service leading to a favourable outcome.
The Clearance service is limited in time: as a general rule, it ends after 3 reminders to the rightful claimant, each spaced approximately one week apart. If the client expressly requests it from Le Chaînon Manquant and Le Chaînon Manquant considers that there is a strong chance that this will lead to a favourable outcome, then Le Chaînon Manquant may agree to make one or more additional reminders. Le Chaînon Manquant will then set an appropriate number of follow-ups and/or a deadline.
PRIOR ART SEARCH :
TRADEMARKS: Search for names and/or logos registered as trademarks, the existence of which may create a conflict with a trademark created by the client for his project.
CHARACTER NAMES: Search for “first names + surnames” associations of public figures and/or names registered as trademarks, the existence of which may create a conflict with a character name created by the client for his project.
Precisions:
In the event that Le Chaînon Manquant considers the use of a brand name or character name created by the client to be risky, it undertakes to propose 3 alternative names.
As part of the Trademark Priority Search, Le Chaînon Manquant undertakes to inform the Client of identical or similar trademarks registered for identical products and/or services.
In the context of the Prior Art Search for character names, Le Chaînon Manquant undertakes to inform the Client of identical or similar names used by persons operating in an identical field of activity or known for identical or similar facts.
However, the Client remains free to decide whether or not to use the brand/character name created for their project. Le Chaînon Manquant does not have the legal skills of a law firm, so in the event of the need for a real legal guarantee and/or a more in-depth search for prior character names, Le Chaînon Manquant advises the client to contact a specialist lawyer.
CONTRACTUAL ASSISTANCE: Drafting and/or proofreading of a contract and negotiation of its clauses, with a view to its signature.
Details:
The contractual support service is limited to the following types of contract:
confidentiality agreement ;
contract for the transfer of rights, with free or paid authorisation (musical synchronisation contract, copyright transfer contract, etc.);
authorisation contract for use of image rights;
amendment in the event of an extension of the scope or modification of the intellectual creation that is the subject of the contract (addition of visuals or audiovisual extracts), it being understood that each amendment will be understood as an additional contract and will be the subject of a new quotation;
The contractual support service is provided solely in French or English.
Le Chaînon Manquant undertakes to propose to the beneficiary a drafting of the clauses of the contract in accordance with the needs of the client and to make its best efforts to negotiate these clauses in favour of the client. However, contractual support is an obligation of means and not of result.
SCENARIO DETECTION and/or AUDIOVISUAL CREATION VIEWING: Reading of a document or viewing of audiovisual content (feature film, short film, series, etc.), analysis and detection of all elements potentially protected by intellectual property or personality rights, in the form of a summary table. The Missing Link identifies any document search requirements.
SEARCH: Search for one or more documents of any type (animated, still, sound or textual), with a view to their (re)use in the client’s project. Unless specifically required, only low definition files will be delivered. Le Chaînon Manquant may, if the client so wishes, ask for the price and conditions of use in the context of the Research. If the documents sought contain elements of third party rights, Le Chaînon Manquant will suggest to the client additional Sourcing and/or Clearance services, in order to obtain the full exploitation rights.
Note: The Sourcing service is an obligation of means and not of result.
FEASIBILITY ANALYSIS: Study of the project presented by the customer, in order to assess its feasibility and, where appropriate, make the necessary recommendations in terms of action plan, budget and schedule. These recommendations are based on Le Chaînon Manquant’s knowledge and experience, but they are only a projection and in no way guarantee the final result. This study is based on the information previously provided by the client (operating perimeter, deadlines, etc.) and does not take into account any future modifications to the project by the client or any changes to the operating conditions of the sources.
CONFORMATION: Order and delivery of documents in production quality to replace low definition documents.
PAYMENT OF RIGHTS: Payment of invoices for technical costs and/or purchase of rights by Le Chaînon Manquant acting on behalf of the client, against submission of a global invoice in the client’s name. If the client so wishes, he may request a global rights retrocession contract. In return, the handling of rights by Le Chaînon Manquant is invoiced at €250 excluding VAT for any amount less than €1250 excluding VAT. For amounts in excess of €1250 exclusive of tax, 20% of the rights amount will be invoiced. Any bank charges will be billed in addition. The Client is requested to indicate to Chaînon Manquant all known end users at the time of invoicing the rights.
Nota Bene :
Le Chaînon Manquant undertakes to do everything in its power to carry out the mission entrusted to it, according to the terms defined with the Client.
Le Chaînon Manquant undertakes, before commencing any service, to inform the client of any problem that may restrict or slow down its work, or even call into question the feasibility of the project.
If the client does not provide the necessary information to complete the project in good time, Le Chaînon Manquant reserves the right to inform the client that the deadlines agreed for the completion of the service may not be met.
The service commits upon receipt of an Order Form or, failing this, an Agreement Form and a signed quotation. All services are due and payable.
The rates quoted for Clearance and Research services do not include any financial consideration that may be requested by rights holders for the transfer of their rights or by media owners for the supply of media.
