OT: Classical music copyrighting for DV film

kunal wrote on 4/10/2005, 6:05 PM

Hi,

I've been trying to figure my way around this one and I do need some advice -- Basically I'm going to be using some classical music scores for my DV film -- scores primarily by Beethoven/Schubert/Bach.

As far as I could look up online, not very many of their compositions are in the public domain yet -- the composers are in the public domains, but their recorded performances are copyrighted -- and these are what I'll be using for my film -- I'll be using Vegas to extract the symphonies from CDs of these performances.

I will be sending my film out to festivals, so this invclves a 'public broadcast'.

Any hints/tips/suggestions on how to deal with this? I'll be terribly restricted in terms of what classical music scores I can use that are completely in the public domain...how do other fellow indie filmmakers deal with such copyright issues...?

Thanks for any help!
Kunal.

Comments

Spot|DSE wrote on 4/10/2005, 6:23 PM
Contact the owners of the recorded masters, and ask their permission. Since these are in all likelihood performances by union musicians, don't expect to get permission without being prepared to pay quite a bit in sync fees.
You'll likely find it a much more cost-viable alternative to find a local musician, hand him/her the sheet music for the work, and have him/her re-orchestrate and perform the pieces as a work for hire.
All works by Beethoven, Schubert, and Bach are PD, so you can own the local musician's performances, and in fact, may find them better, as you can direct the work as opposed to having no control over how the work was recorded, and....you can mix the work on your own, if you'd like to do that.
Jay Gladwell wrote on 4/10/2005, 6:37 PM

Along the lines of Douglas' closing remarks, you may want to go here and find a musician with a "digital orchestra" to do the recordings. Many talented artists are listed here.

I actually found someone who was "hungry" enough to do a score for a short we're working on for no charge--just to get any kind of credit. It turned out very well, too, I might add!


kunal wrote on 4/10/2005, 7:17 PM

Wow! I love that versusmedia site...I wasn't aware of such a concept..this is an amazing place to find the music you're looking for.

Thanks much, both of you!
BillyBoy wrote on 4/10/2005, 7:18 PM
Ever visit the Classic MIDI Archives? Its a very nice site, unusual for sure. While it may or may not be what you're looking for its a interesting site and some of the works are very well done.

http://www.classicalarchives.com/
vitalforce wrote on 4/10/2005, 8:00 PM
If you have specific pieces in mind, Google the composer's name along with "royalty-free." There are several sites that offer classical music at a relatively low fee, called "buyout" music. If something just generally classical and orchestral will do, there's SmartSound's Sonicfire Pro. I have it and there's some pretty powerful orchestral scores.

There's also Acid's library for the Classical series loops.
PDB wrote on 4/11/2005, 1:04 AM
Not sure to what extent these are royalty free, but at least they are free to download! Might be worth checking out and taking it from there:

http://www.classiccat.net/index.htm