From short to long: the importance of the ‘Chain Of Title’

Without proper rights management from its origin, creative success can be hindered by legal obstacles

On June 25, 2025, the ninth edition of the Fugaz Awards took place. These awards aim to recognize the talent and entrepreneurial effort involved in the short film industry in Spain.

It is easy to appreciate, from the content of the distinguished works, that those years when this sector was exclusively destined for a few low-budget productions, generally linked to the academic field or to emerging talent, are far behind.

It is such that in the resolution of the last call for Aid for the production of short films on project convened by the Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts (an autonomous body attached to the Ministry of Culture), the competition of short film projects with budgets exceeding 200,000 euros is observed, a sum that is distant from the short films that can be made in an educational environment.

The short film as a bridge to the feature film

The underlying reason for this paradigm shift may lie in the fact that the short film no longer serves solely to showcase emerging talent with limited financial resources, but is also used by established producers who wish to enhance their reputation in the market –through the circuit of film festivals– or to carry out a first test for a more ambitious audiovisual project –such as a series or a subsequent feature film–.

Indeed, in the recent audiovisual industry, it is increasingly common for short films to serve as a starting point for developing feature films based on their plot or script. Good evidence of the above can be found in the Spanish films “Madre,” “Cedita” or “Buffalo Kids” and, internationally, in the multimillion-dollar “Saw” franchise.

The perspective of copyright legislation

However, the rise of the short film industry and its utility as a precursor to the production of a subsequent feature film has not been accompanied by the implementation of due legal practice during its production.

As is well known, Royal Legislative Decree 1/1996, of April 12, approving the consolidated text of the Intellectual Property Law (“LPI”), grants the author of an original work a series of exclusive rights over their creation, which include the right of reproduction (article 18), the right of distribution (article 19), the right of public communication (article 20) or the right of transformation (article 21).

Precisely this last right –the right of transformation– allows the holder of a work to make any modification in its form from which a different creation derives.

Transferred to the audiovisual sector, the exercise of the right of transformation translates into the possibility of carrying out, among other modifications, remakes, sequels or prequels of a pre-existing audiovisual work –as indicated by the ruling of the Provincial Court of Madrid number 107/2007– or, as in the case at hand, to make a film based on that acclaimed short film.

Transfer of rights, supplementary rules, and legal presumptions

Thus, in order to guarantee peaceful exploitation of the audiovisual work, the producer must obtain the appropriate transfer of rights from all contributors whose contribution generates intellectual property rights. This process of rights assurance is commonly referred to in the industry by the English term Chain Of Title.

In particular, the producer must acquire this transfer from the individuals who hold the status of author of the audiovisual work. These individuals are the director-producer, the screenwriter, the adapter, the author of the musical compositions, with or without lyrics, created specifically for this work (article 87 LPI).

Moreover, it is essential that the contractual transfer clearly specifies its temporal and territorial scope. In this sense, in the absence of express mention, the supplementary rules provided in article 43 LPI come into play: “the lack of mention of the time limits the transmission to five years and that of the territorial scope to the country in which the transfer takes place.” These limitations can be particularly detrimental for an industry oriented towards global distribution and long-term exploitation, especially considering that the average production time of an audiovisual work usually ranges from one to four years.

As confirmed by the recent ruling of the Provincial Court of Madrid number 16572/2024, these supplementary rules would come into effect even in cases where the intellectual creation is the result of a commission and there is economic consideration for its elaboration.

Moreover, the LPI includes –within the special regime of the audiovisual work– an additional presumption regarding the rights that are understood to be transferred to the producer by its authors (article 88 LPI).

According to this legal presumption, in the absence of express mention, the rights of reproduction, distribution, and public communication, as well as those of dubbing or subtitling of the work, will be understood as transferred to the producer of an audiovisual work, rights that the legislator deemed essential for the exploitation of the work.

Note that, except for dubbing and subtitling, the right of transformation does not appear among the rights that are understood to be presumptively transferred to the producer.

Therefore, deficient contractual practice during the production of a short film could prevent the producer from carrying out that long-awaited feature film in the future, as they would not hold the ownership of their right of transformation.

Ultimately, it will not be of much use for the producer to have the next golden goose in the form of a short film if they have not properly secured the Chain Of Rights during its production.

Article by Alejandro Díaz, senior associate in ECIJA Madrid's TMT area for the magazine Actualidad Jurídica Aranzadi.