Review and analysis of the chain of title of copyright is a critical step in the acquisition of rights for the production or development of a motion picture, video game or other work dependent upon rights in copyright, and the financing of any such production. Chain of title analysis must often be conducted in the face of incomplete copyright filings, poorly maintained production files, and authors whose personal papers, including their wills, do not meet the same standards as those authors’ literary works. This is the first seven of our list of a dozen key issues to getting the rights in copyright needed to finance and produce a motion picture or develop a video game or other derivative work.