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Seminar

Reducing Risk in Documentary: Insurance, Copyright & Defamation Essentials

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PT

Koreatown, Los Angeles CA
  • Dale Cohen, Speaker
  • Loralee Sundra, Speaker
  • Carra Greenberg, Speaker
green background with yellow text with three headshots of the UCLA Doc Legal team

In this practical, documentary-focused mini-conference, lawyers from the UCLA Documentary Film Legal Clinic will guide filmmakers through three of the most pressing legal and professional risks facing nonfiction storytellers today: production insurance, libel and defamation threats, and the growing rise of aggressive copyright enforcement, such as “copyright trolls.” Designed for filmmakers at the emerging and mid-stage of their careers, the program will demystify the legal realities of documentary production and equip participants with the tools needed to protect both their projects and their creative independence.

As documentaries increasingly tackle controversial subjects, rely on archival and web materials, and pursue distribution across festivals, broadcasters, and streaming platforms, legal preparedness has become an essential part of the filmmaking process. Yet many filmmakers enter production without a clear understanding of when to secure insurance coverage, how defamation law applies to nonfiction storytelling, or how copyright claims can emerge—even in situations involving fair use or seemingly minor material. Missteps in any of these areas can lead to costly delays, jeopardize distribution opportunities, and expose filmmakers to significant personal and professional risks.

Across a series of sessions and scenario planning, participants will learn how to navigate key insurance policies such as general liability, workers’ compensation, production insurance, and Errors & Omissions (E&O) coverage; understand how filmmakers can defend themselves against libel and defamation threats; and develop practical strategies for handling copyright disputes, fair use questions, takedown notices, and increasingly aggressive enforcement tactics by rights holders and copyright trolls. The conference will also examine how distributors, insurers, and legal reviewers evaluate documentary projects, and why strong legal practices should begin long before a film is completed.

Through practical guidance, real-world examples, and interactive discussion, the mini-conference will help filmmakers better assess legal risk, strengthen their production practices, and respond strategically to challenges while protecting their editorial integrity. 

Filmmakers will leave with the knowledge and confidence to navigate risk responsibly—so they can focus on telling bold, important stories while protecting the work they’ve worked so hard to create.

Event Time
10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. PST

Lunch will be provided

Location
Koreatown, Los Angeles

Capacity
Up to 65 people in person / no virtual component available

Attendees and Participation
Open to the public for registration and in-person participation

Learnings and recording of the event will be made available to IDA Members

Access
If you have any access needs that you would like to share with us, please email access@documentary.org at least two weeks prior to the event. We will do our best to accommodate.

Code of Conduct
All participants agree to read and approve the IDA Events Code of Conduct here.
 

Event Participants

    Dale Cohen

    Dale Cohen

    Dale Cohen is Director and founder of the UCLA Doc Film Legal Clinic, where he leads a group of student-clinicians providing pro bono counsel to documentary filmmakers on a wide range of content issues, including vetting of films for copyright/fair use issues, and production counsel on all matters that filmmakers may encounter. Dale is a frequent speaker at media and entertainment law conferences and film festivals and also teaches a Media Law class at UCLA Law. He is co-author of leading textbook Media and the Law (2d Ed. Carolina Press).

    Dale has also served as Special Counsel to FRONTLINE, the award‐winning PBS documentary series, for nearly a decade. His extensive experience as a media lawyer, litigator and news executive includes positions at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, NPR, Cox Enterprises, Inc. and Tribune Company. Dale was also a litigation partner at the law firm of Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal (now Denton's) in Chicago.

    Loralee Sundra

    Loralee Sundra

    Loralee Sundra is the Associate Director of the Documentary Film Legal Clinic at UCLA School of Law. In addition to full time Clinic instruction and representation of documentary clients, Loralee leads the Clinic’s documentary filmmakers’ legal education program with a focus on expanding the Clinic’s pro bono outreach in collaboration with film festivals and media organization events. 

    Prior to joining the Clinic in January 2021, Loralee practiced media and entertainment law for twenty-three years with the boutique firm of Leopold, Petrich & Smith, and, more recently, as a member of the nationally recognized Media & Entertainment group of Ballard Spahr LLP. Loralee is a member of the Archival Producers Alliance Generative AI Initiative Advisory Board and, in addition to her Clinic instruction, Loralee teaches media law courses at UCLA Extension and regularly leads presentations on topics in media and intellectual property.

    Carra Greenberg

    Carra Greenberg

    Carra Greenberg is an attorney and producer. Her work includes commercials, docu-series, and feature content for a variety of brands and networks. Her first feature documentary, Daughters of the Sexual Revolution, explored the women’s movement through the lens of the original Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, and won a Grand Jury Prize at SXSW. Havana Libre documents the underground world of surfing in Cuba. Her most recent documentary, Shuffle, won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary at SXSW in 2025. She is an honors graduate of New York Law School’s Social Justice Policy Center.