Have you ever watched a foreign film or listened to a tune in another language? Whatever constitutes foreign and local movies for you, odds are that you have watched and listened to a movie, TV show, and music made abroad. This is possible because the producers of those works have entered into a distribution agreement with studios in your native country. This is what happens when an owner wants to sell his items to another market, which in this case is a movie or music.
Selling an item to another market requires signing a distribution agreement with a supplier. Although you can do it on your own, there would be times and places where you wouldn’t have the power to do so. If you have made an independent movie and you want to release it in another country in addition to releasing it in your homeland independently, you would need the support of a studio located in that place to help you. And since you would enter into an agreement with the studio, you may have to give a power of attorney rights to the distributor studio.
A power of attorney (POA) empowers the foreign film studio to act on your behalf. The agent, or the recipient of the POA, doesn’t mean an attorney per se. It just indicates that they can do whatsoever is in your best interest without having to consult you first. It’s not mandatory that you grant that right to the film distributor, but it would help you enormously. Granting a POA to the distributor would give them the confidence to protect your rights. And since you aren’t in the same state, they have the convenience of imposing your rights.
What if someone made copies of your film and sold them to film theaters? You and your film studio in that place would lose out in income since you would have no idea that you are being duped by someone else simply because you are not there. But if the distributor has POA to sue a third party for unlicensed release and distribution of your movie, they would help settle the problem as soon as possible.
The same is true for any other merchandise you may want to sell. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a film, television show, or music. You could be selling any physical product like furniture or food, and the same rights would still apply, though there would just be slight changes. You can also adjust the POA to include just what you deem necessary, like the right to sue a third party for selling your item.