Copyright - Some good news, at least in Oz

farss wrote on 3/4/2004, 11:57 PM
This only applies in Australia, other countries may have similar arrangments, I'm in no position to comment. Also as far as I know it only applies to private event videography, i.e. weddings.

I have no personal interest in this but after all the doom, gloom and dire warnings, then if what I've learnt today is correct then anyone working in this field can breath a little easier. I've not been able to verify this and even if I had, as in any of these matters I'd be nuts to expect you to take my word for it, OK.

The deal is this. Firstly you need a licence from APRA, current cost I'm told is $600 per annum. This gives you permission to copy into a video any musical work for which the client owns a legitimate copy. All the obvious caveats apply as to what the client can do with that video, in other words the same restrictions apply as they do to the original music. Don't know how that pans out if they want to give copies away to relatives.

I can offer no more info than this, I've been promised a copy of the agreement / licence to read.

Bottom line: if this is true then there's no excuse for engaging in risky practices. Obviously the people to speak to are APRA, if what I've been told is true and even if the licence was 10 times that figure it's a pretty cheap stay out of jail card.

Comments

PeterWright wrote on 3/5/2004, 12:37 AM
I had a letter about this a couple of years ago Bob - it was $374 per year then!

The licence covered the use of any commercial music in videos that are supplied to those people who appear in them, for their private domestic viewing. This covers weddings, concerts etc. It was limited to 30 copies per event and does not cover corporate or training videos.
For those who prefer to licence each event separately it cost A$37.40 per event for up to 5 copies - presumably this is now $60..

As you say, if you do weddings etc, it makes it an easy decision.

farss wrote on 3/5/2004, 4:40 AM
Peter,
that sounds right. The guy who told me about it also mentioned the price hike, still pretty cheap.
The odd thing is that I'd sort of proposed just such an arrangement in this forum on several occasions only to be told it was pie in the sky, nice idea but you'd never get the parties to agree and now I find out such an arrangement has existed for years, well at least in this country.

Bob.
MarkFoley wrote on 3/5/2004, 4:54 AM
Is there something in the States comparable?
farss wrote on 3/5/2004, 5:01 AM
Don't really have a clue myself but given that APRA would almost certainly be in step with bodies there I'd be hard to imagine that it didn't. The guy who told me about it said he had a similar arrangement in Europe but the deal there required him to provide cue sheets and I think pay a fee per track, even so it was only a matter of paperwork, you didn't have to try to negotiate each track with the publishers etc.

If we are the only place on the planet that has such a simple arrangement all I can say is, the weathers good, the beer cold and the locals friendly, just don't try arriving on a leaky boat.

Bob.
RBartlett wrote on 3/5/2004, 2:51 PM
http://www.videolicence.co.uk has something similar for the UK.
Just no annual thing, just a forecasted volume thing that you are supposed to order before you do the work!

You get PRS, MCPS and Christian music licences in one bundle electronically.
There isn't enough flexibility in the options and some of the wording on the website for the options wouldn't hold up from my grasp of my own language. However it is a nice one stop shop. It needs Macrovision, Equity and synchronisation licensing aswell. Yet these, unlike Oz are immature for the event videographer.

I like the Oz maturity. I wonder if it covers synchronisation of music? So they distribute your money to song writers, performing artists, publishers and copyright owners? I guess they are also non-profit (APRS).

Thanks for the info farss.
farss wrote on 3/5/2004, 3:50 PM
From what i know it covers sync as well BUT only for personal use by the client, naturally.

The whole deal is just common sense, the cleint could quite legaly play their CD while watching their wedding video after all! This deal doesn't cover broadcasting, commercial release or material that's being sold commercialy. For that I guess its all the already discussed dramas.

I'd even suggest that you buy a copy of the CD that contains the music for each copy of the video that you're making would be a fair thing to do, from what Peter said you can make upto 30 copies of the video under the licence, I'd reckon the artists / publishers are entitled to a few dollars from each of those copies even if you're not obliged to do so.

The original point of my post though was prompted by the realisation that quite a few local lads have simply given up on the issue and are regulalry breaking the law. From what I've now discovered within a limited range of work you don't need to.

My only personal comment is this, take advantage of the arrangement, stick rigidly to the rules, show some largess by buying enough copies of the music to cover the copies you're making and give them to the client, heck even put a note to that effect on the cover / credits. If it turns out this is a deal unique to this country ,make it work and work well here. It wouldn't be the first time this country has showed the world how simple things can be with a bit of common sense.