---
title: "Build a film or series chain-of-title table"
url: "https://ailawframework.com/practice/sports-and-entertainment-law/build-a-film-or-tv-chain-of-title-table/united-states"
type: "task_jurisdiction_version"
site: "AI Law Framework"
id: "A39-T1-R9-US"
practice_area: "Sports & Entertainment Law"
tier: "yellow"
lawyer_review: "required"
jurisdictions: ["US"]
last_reviewed: "2026-10-22"
---

# Build a film or series chain-of-title table

> For each agreement in the chain, list the work, the grantor, the grantee, the rights named, the date, whether a writing signed by the grantor is in the file, and the page. Do not state that the chain is complete.

Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/practice/sports-and-entertainment-law/build-a-film-or-tv-chain-of-title-table/united-states  
Last reviewed: 2026-10-22

Site index for agents: https://ailawframework.com/llms.txt

## Key facts

| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Practice area | [Sports & Entertainment Law](https://ailawframework.com/practice/sports-and-entertainment-law.md) |
| Human involvement | Yellow: Lawyer and AI draft together |
| How AI is used | For each agreement in the chain, list the work, the grantor, the grantee, the rights named, the date, whether a writing signed by the grantor is in the file, and the page. Do not state that the chain is complete. |
| What the lawyer must review | Copyright vests initially in the author or authors under 17 U.S.C. § 201(a). Under § 201(b), the employer or other person for whom a work made for hire was prepared is the author unless the parties have expressly agreed otherwise in a written instrument signed by them. Section 201(d)(2) allows any exclusive right in § 106, including a subdivision of it, to be transferred and owned separately. Section 204(a) provides that a transfer of copyright ownership, other than by operation of law, is not valid unless an instrument of conveyance, or a note or memorandum of the transfer, is in writing and signed by the owner of the rights conveyed or that owner's duly authorized agent. You decide whether each link meets § 204(a) and whether any right is missing. |
| Written for | United States |
| Applies to | [Build a film or TV chain-of-title table](https://ailawframework.com/practice/sports-and-entertainment-law/build-a-film-or-tv-chain-of-title-table.md) |

## Checking plan

- What the AI does: For each agreement in the chain, list the work, the grantor, the grantee, the rights named, the date, whether a writing signed by the grantor is in the file, and the page. Do not state that the chain is complete.
- Basis: Checked against the linked sources on 22 October 2026. Confirm the current instrument before reliance.

## Notes

- Open § 101 before you treat a contributor as an author of a work made for hire or a grant as a nonexclusive permission.
- A signature on a deal memo is a § 204(a) writing only if you decide the memo meets the statute.

## Sources

- [17 U.S.C. § 201 (ownership of copyright)](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/201) (checked 2026-10-22)
- [17 U.S.C. § 204 (execution of transfers of copyright ownership)](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/204) (checked 2026-10-22)

## Forms and precedents for this task

| Form or precedent | Kind | AI level | Summary |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Option and purchase agreement for screen rights in a book or other literary work](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/sports-and-entertainment-law/option-and-purchase-agreement-screen-rights.md) | Agreement | Yellow | An option agreement giving a producer the exclusive right, for a fee and a set period, to buy the screen adaptation rights in a literary work, with the purchase terms, rights granted and reserved,… |
| [Chain of title for an underlying work](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/sports-and-entertainment-law/underlying-work-chain-of-title.md) | Checklist | Yellow | A chain-of-title record for a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work, using the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) sections 35 and 196. It does not decide ownership of copyright in a film. |
| [Talent release and consent for filming, photography and interviews](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/sports-and-entertainment-law/talent-release-filming-photography-and-interviews.md) | Form | Yellow | A short release signed by a person who appears in, or is interviewed for, a production: consent to record and use their image, voice and words, assignment of copyright in their contribution, moral… |

Signed-in accounts can read the full text of each one.

*Practice guidance for planning and review. Confirm current primary sources and the requirements of the actual matter. This is general information, not legal advice.*