“The subtitle of this book could be ‘Everything the Filmmaker Needs to Know…But Was Afraid to Ask.’ Donaldson provides an indispensable guided tour of an area of law—filled with landmines—which filmmakers cannot afford to ignore. A wealth of information is presented in a clear, accessible, even friendly manner. Read it once for background and then keep it for
reference.”
— Marcie Bloom, Sony Picture Classics

“ ‘Whereas, anything herein contained to the contrary notwithstanding…’
What? This was taken directly out of an opinion agreement that I ‘tried’ to decipher just last week. As luck would have it, Michael showed me an early copy of his book Clearance and Copyright. Although I still could not comprehend the above, it alerted me to a few mistakes I was making that I quickly reversed before it was too late. If you are serious about producing, the information contained in this book is invaluable. I’ll revisit it time and time again.”
— Jon Gerrans, Co-President, Strand Releasing

“ Your film can win many festival prizes but you still have to obtain the proper clearances or your film is un distributable, and sometimes even unshowable at some festivals. Too often the independent filmmaker does not realize how important the issue of clearance, copyright, insurance, and licensing are in the arena of selling your film. This book guides you through all of these area, finally, there is one place to go for all the answers.”
— Geoffrey Gilmore, Director of Film Festival, Sundance Institute