General clearance rules include what?

• A. Don’t use license plates, email addresses, domain names, or real telephone numbers; change fictional character names if they match a local name
• B. Always use real telephone numbers
• C. Include all logos and trademarks without permission
• D. Use of license plates and emails is mandatory

Answer: (A)

General clearance rules aim to minimize risk by avoiding real-world identifiers in productions. This means not displaying real license plates, email addresses, domain names, or telephone numbers, and if a character’s name could match a real local name, changing it helps prevent misidentification or mistaken associations with real people. The idea is to protect privacy, avoid potential defamation or rights-of-publicity issues, and prevent audience confusion.

Why the other options don’t fit: using real telephone numbers is risky and unnecessary, and could violate privacy or invite unwanted contact; including logos and trademarks without permission creates potential infringement unless you secure the needed rights; and making license plates or emails mandatory would unnecessarily expose real-world information and increase legal risk.