I know this is a dead horse but....

birdcat wrote on 7/30/2007, 3:46 PM

Hi Kids -

I personally adhere to copyrights now (in all but my home movies) - I have seen the light, so to speak.

The question I have is while I know many wedding/event videographers get away with using non-royalty free music, we have a local videography company that actually has a local cable show twice a week showcasing weddings, bar mitzvahs, sweet 16's, etc.... he has done, using popular, top 40, copyrighted music for his background (he's really not that good either).

How does he get away with that from the cable company? Are they paying his royalties and getting permission for him?

I'd really like to know but don't want to cause this guy grief by calling the cable company to ask.

Any ideas?

Thanks.

Comments

farss wrote on 7/30/2007, 4:13 PM

In what country is this??

jrazz wrote on 7/30/2007, 4:14 PM

NYC

j razz

MH_Stevens wrote on 7/30/2007, 5:05 PM

Are you well informed about whether he has licensed the music? Maybe the station puts the tunes on it's playlist and pays the royalty that way.

GregFlowers wrote on 7/30/2007, 8:07 PM

Is it a public access channel or a regular cable channel? If it public access then he (and only he) would be held responsible for copyright infringement. Public access will usually not edit the content of the programs submitted nor are they generally held responsible for the content. The show's producer is responsible.

birdcat wrote on 7/31/2007, 4:52 AM

This, as Jeremy said, is a New York Cable station - I don't know if it's public access, but it is only available via cable.

I was just kinda puzzled that 1) a professional wedding/event videographer would use copyrighted music that is displayed in a very public place and 2) that the RIAA hasn't come after him for doing so.

That folks do this for wedding vids is not surprising, that they show it on TV is.

I have invested over $2,000 in royalty free music and software (Sonic Fire Pro, Cinescore, lot's of Digital Juice StackTraxx) over the past couple of years and I don't regret it (I use this for stuff I do for my company) but if anyone can really get away with using mainstream music without license for wedding/event video, why bother?

Tim Stannard wrote on 7/31/2007, 6:09 AM

"if anyone can really get away with using mainstream music without license for wedding/event video, why bother? "

I work in IT for a number of schools. I could get away with stealing a wealth of stuff. I don't, for two reasons:

1. It would go against my sense of what's morally right, and,

2. I might get caught and when I do I will lose my livelihood.

Any time you get tempted, birdcat, just remember those two things.

And don't forget, in this particular instance licences might be in place in which case nobody is getting away with anything.

DavidMcKnight wrote on 7/31/2007, 1:37 PM

A related question...

I have a morbid curiosity and consider it a guilty pleasure to watch some of these insipid reality shows based on stars who are past their prime. Scott Baio has one on VH1 called Scott Baio is 45 And Single. In the last episode I saw, they used cues from probably a dozen different hit records - like Boston, The Pretenders, The Police, lots of huge hits from the 80's. I've NEVER seen a show do anything like that.

Did they license that content?

baysidebas wrote on 8/1/2007, 9:54 AM

Apropos, in today's news:

Music suit creates discord

A Seattle restaurant is among more than two dozen venues swept up in a music-licensing crackdown for allegedly failing to pay royalties to play copyrighted music in public.

Without a special license, owners of bars, clubs and restaurants could be sued for playing any one of 8 million recorded songs, even from their own CDs.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2003815486_royalty01.htmlmore here[/link]