OT: Music Rights in a commercial(very specific)

RafalK wrote on 7/13/2004, 2:57 PM
Sorry guys. This question covers the topic which has been discussed here over and over again, HOWEVER, this is very specific question, most likely targeted at people of Spot's caliber.
I am currently negotiating shooting a commercial for a local radio station. Of course, to show off what music they play, they want to insert few clips, literally 2 or 3 seconds in length, of some of the songs they play on the radio. I know I need the synch rights to do this but isn't there some sort of central agency that I can go to to obtain the necessary rights as opposed to having to contact each publisher separately ???
Help, or at least post a link to a previous answer which addresses this specific issue.
Thanks in advance

Comments

Chienworks wrote on 7/13/2004, 5:19 PM
http://www.ascap.com/ The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers.

http://www.bmi.com/ Broadcast Music International

Between these two groups they manage the vast majority of all music broadcast licenses. Just curious though, in this case wouldn't the radio station's licensing provisions cover your commercial? It seems that they could report the use of the music the same way they do for playing the tracks normally. It might be cheaper to do that under the station's bulk license than to negotiate individual licenses on your own.
Blues_Jam wrote on 7/13/2004, 9:02 PM
I believe Chienworks is correct in assuming the radio station's license would cover this even for using complete songs but I think a license isn't even necessary for using a few seconds of a song... (check with a lawyer for details to be safe).

I recall seeing a television program (The Screen Savers on TechTV) where they had a musical guest on and played a few seconds of his music when the program host said that the artist's music was BMI and that the station only had an ASCAP license and if they played any more of the song they would have to get a BMI license... ? (My apologies for the run on sentence to those who take notice of such things).

Blues
Spot|DSE wrote on 7/13/2004, 10:46 PM
Licenses are required for ANY broadcast, regardless of length, with exceptions relating to Fair Use. And a commercial for a radio station, especially one that is for-profit, isn't covered at any length by Fair Use.
As Kelly suggests, if it's a promo for the radio station, their license would suffice. We've done commercials for KBER in SLC, we hired William Evans of Parsons, Behle, and Latimer to research this. (He's the guy that sued D**ney for a small infraction and won a bundle for his client.) So long as the use was for radio station promotion on television, their license covered our work. But the television station may not carry licenses. (I'd be surprised if they didn't)
However, I'd still recommend a quick chat with an IP lawyer. It is so well worth the relatively inexpensive education.
RafalK wrote on 7/14/2004, 5:14 AM
Thanks a lot for responding. I know I can do the video and I have a very high level animator on my staff for any kinds of logo work, etc BUT the music issue was keeping me awake at night.
Chienworks wrote on 7/14/2004, 7:20 AM
Oops. Pardon me for not reading more carefully. I had mistakenly assumed you were making a commercial that the radio station would broadcast themselves. However, since you're talking about video and animation this is obviously a television commercial that will be broadcast by a television station, right?

Unless it's the same station, you'll probably have to worry about the music licenses after all. I doubt the TV station will pick up the tab for you. Sorry about that.
Blues_Jam wrote on 7/14/2004, 10:17 PM
"Oops. Pardon me for not reading more carefully. I had mistakenly assumed you were making a commercial that the radio station would broadcast themselves. However, since you're talking about video and animation this is obviously a television commercial that will be broadcast by a television station, right?"

Double oops.... I also assumed a radio commercial for that radio station.

Blues