St. Louis, MO – June 30, 2023 – When the United States Supreme Court recently ruled against the Andy Warhol Foundation in a copyright dispute over the use of a photographer’s photo of Prince, my first thought was who is looking out for Prince?

The case that made its way to the highest court in the land was a fight involving three parties (the photographer, a famous artist and a magazine publishing giant) that were each profiting off the iconic musician and his compelling story.

While I am an attorney, I’m not going to get into the merits or demerits of the Supreme Court ruling other than to make my own case for why Prince – and by extension you - should own your own story.

At issue in this case is an image that adorned the front cover of Vanity Fair magazine. That image was of Prince because their cover story was about Prince . I’m operating from the belief that the editors of the magazine selected cover stories that would induce readers to buy the magazine. A popular celebrity on the cover helps sell more magazines. People bought the magazine to read about Prince .

The editor's chose the cover story to induce readers to purchase the magazine.

It isn’t unlike me choosing Prince to be a topic of my blog. I want you to read this blog because I’m passionate about this idea that you should own your own story. And this court case is a picture perfect illustration of the issues at stake in the practical process of telling a person's story.

As the court arbitrates a dispute between parties, I'm struck by how no one is even talking about Prince. It is his celebrity and his story that make the whole dispute possible. It is that fact that I'm using to illustrate my point to you that you need to own your story. Especially if you are a celebrity.

I listen to people throw around terms like NIL and copyright without really understanding the practical applications of those legal rights. Assumptions are often made that lead to unfortunate results when individuals realize they don’t actually own their own storytelling elements.

Let me explain what I mean.

Under American law, the creator of creative work (photo, video, written work etc.) owns the copyright on that work. For instance, as the writer and publisher of this blog, I own the copyright. If I take photo, I own the copyright on the photo. If I take a photo of a person, I still own the copyright on that photo. However, that person owns their name, image and likeness unless they grant me those rights.

Just because I own the copyright doesn’t mean I can do anything I want with an image. If I want to use that photo to sell t-shirts or coffee mugs, I don’t have the right to do that without first securing the NIL rights from the person in the image. If that person is a professional athlete wearing a jersey, then I most likely need permission from the league because it has licensed logos.

Ugh. It gets complicated.

The Supreme Court case involved a Vanity Fair cover where artist Andy Warhol used a photograph of Prince taken by Lynn Goldsmith to do his signature artwork. I’m assuming the photographer must have secured a right of publicity from Prince before marketing the image and making it available to folks like Andy Warhol.

That is often the case. Photographers have gotten pretty savvy about leveraging the power of celebrity and keeping the upper hand with customers of their service. That is why you have to have a waiver to print a photograph of your child's school photo. The photographer's agreement is fairly one-sided in favor of the photographer and customers usually just go along with it.

Candidly, I think it is annoying that I paid money to get my son's 6th grade photo taken and the photographer owns it. We only have a limited license of my son's image. We need the photographer's permission to go to Walgreens to have it printed. I don't like that. I think the photo should be a work for hire and we should own it. The photographer should get a limited license.

Now all that said, nothing nefarious is at play. The law favors the photographer and the creator of creative work. I'm totally down with that.

Put another way my darling Nikki, they aren’t thieves in the temple wearing a raspberry beret in the purple rain saying “let’s go crazy” because you got the look. But let’s be honest, while nothing compares to you, many creatives act like baby I’m a star and that is why I drive a little red corvette.

Song title puns aside, you get the point. The creator owns the copyright. Even when you hire them unless you have a written agreement otherwise. Few people who hire a photographer or videographer realize their rights and who owns what. The law is the law. It is up to you to know your rights. When you hire a photographer, you can insist on a work-for-hire arrangement. Most will be willing to go along for the right price.

My message to you is to be aware of the law and look out for yourself in the process of engaging a creative professional. Be smart and act like a media outlet by owning the copyright on your work.

Most people – including celebrities – assume they own their own story.

While at a certain level that is true, it isn’t necessarily the case in a practical sense. If ESPN does a 30 for 30 documentary about a professional athlete, ESPN (a.k.a. Disney) owns the copyright on that creation. It is their documentary. And Disney is very protective of their copyrights -- as they should be as their entire business model is built on it.

If ESPN uses images or game footage of the player playing a game, they have to pay a license fee to whoever owns that footage to include it in their production. Typically, the license holder is the league. They expect big bucks for that footage. And they get it.

Most celebrity documentaries or biopics are not owned by the celebrity being featured within the production. Someone else does - typically who ever paid to produce the film.

Sadly some of the people with the most compelling stories to tell, don’t actually own the key elements like photos or video to tell their own story. Too often, it isn’t until a professional athlete or celebrity dies that the families realize how little of the loved one’s story they own or control.

I formed STORYSMART because I believe everyone is entitled to have their story told professionally on screen without sacrificing their rights to the story. Nobody should own or profit from your story but you. And you shouldn’t have to choose between having your story told well and owning it. You can have both if you are STORYSMART about it.

If you decide to write a memoir, you don’t have to decide between having it well written and owning the copyright. You can have both. You can hire a ghost writer to make sure your manuscript is outstanding and you own it. You can profit from selling your story told well.

While the publishing industry has the ghost writer, there really isn’t anything equivalent to that in the world of on-screen storytelling. That is why we created STORYSMART. We want to be the equivalent to on-screen storytelling, allowing you to own your story told in a cinematic, professional way on screen. We believe a professional filmmaker will do a better job telling your story than you would doing it DIY, but you shouldn't have to trade off on ownership to engage a professional.

We see ourselves as looking out for both the creatives we work with and our clients. There has to be a better way than currently exists within the market. The process of filmmaking and video storytelling needs to a process akin to the ghostwriting process in publishing.

In the publishing world, ghost writers work on behalf of someone as a work-for-hire ensuring that the client owns the copyright on the work. Clients pay a premium to engage a ghostwriter. It is a win for creatives and for the client. It is also a win for the publishing industry that has had to adjust to the democratizing reality of self-publishing.

While self-publishing is awesome, it hasn't always resulted in well-written books. The ghostwriter process enables a celebrity to self-publish a well written book they can be proud to call their own. It does justice to their story.

We believe you deserve the same option when it comes to bringing your story to the screen. You shouldn’t have to give up your intellectual property rights to have a documentary film or major motion picture made about you. You should still be able to own your story told in a way that does justice to your story.

Put another way, at STORYSMART, we are here to look out for Prince. We want Prince to own his own story. And the same goes for you too. Know your rights and be STORYSMART about sharing your story.

If we can help, please don't hesitate to reach out to me. It is always free to talk.

BTW – the image of Prince used in the thumbnail above is an ai creation from Canva. I paid a license to use Canva and the tools within it.

--Ron Watermon, the founder & CEO of STORYSMART

About STORYSMART®

Nothing is more enduring than a beautiful film that brings a story alive on screen and in our hearts. Great stories demand nothing less than cinematic Hollywood-quality storytelling. STORYSMART® specializes in helping public figures such as professional athletes, entertainers, former elected officials and celebrities make the most of their story using a proprietary approach that blends Hollywood-style cinematic storytelling with museum-like collection curation and story-focused brand licensing.

STORYSMART® provides Hollywood Quality filmmaking and storytelling consulting services, functioning as a high-end work-for-hire ghostwriting service specializing in cinematic storytelling rather than being limited to traditional book publishing (hint - you can do both if your are smart about your storytelling derivative rights). STORYSMART® services range from story preservation digital archive services like those used by Oprah Winfrey, Bon Jovi and Billy Graham, to story development, screenwriting, licensing, and professional documentary filmmaking.

STORYSMART® is ideal for clients interested in controlling and monetizing their own storytelling through story-based media production, publishing, and merchandising.

Learn more about our customized white glove approach and book your FREE CONFIDENTIAL consultation at storysmart.net

Filmmaking For ALL™ My Own Story™ Storytelling For ALL™

About Ron Watermon

Ron Watermon is the founder and CEO of STORYSMART, a nationwide premium storytelling service that empowers clients to have their stories professionally produced by experienced Filmmakers while retaining their intellectual property rights.

A creative and innovative communications leader with nearly three decades of experience, prior to founding STORYSMART, Ron spent 18 MLB seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals where he was responsible for modernizing the team's communications by leading their investment in video storytelling, brand journalism, fan engagement and social media.

Ron, who lost his father when he was five years old, knows how profoundly important and deeply personal storytelling is within families. He founded STORYSMART because he believes everyone matters, deserves to be remembered and is entitled to have their story told professionally.