The foundational agreement for all films and the first agreement a distributor
should make sure has been properly executed by the producer is the license of the
underlying material, the script and works that the script might be based on. Since this
agreement contains all of the various terms and conditions one would normally find
in other rights agreements, it is useful to analyse this agreement in some detail. It is
important to understand which points are negotiable, which are absolutely crucial to
transferring copyright usage or ownership and ultimately what distributors need to
confirm to make sure they are going to be able to release the film.