OT: Who do I pay and how much to use copyrighted music?

riredale wrote on 8/23/2002, 7:24 PM
I am building a DVD that will be sold to parents of members of a kid's choir. Maybe 200 copies will be made. One portion of the DVD will consist of a 5 minute collection of still photos shot of their tour in Italy last summer.

My wife is nuts about a blind Italian tenor named Andrea Bocelli, and one of the songs on his "Sogno" CD would be a perfect audio complement to the still photo segment.

--Who do I need to contact?

--Is it really REALLY necessary? The kid's choir is a nonprofit, but I'm sure they want to use the sales of the DVDs as a revenue-creator.

--How much do you anticipate "they" will charge?

--Can one avoid the money issue by giving away the DVD, but suggesting a contribution in place of a fixed price?

I know, you're telling me I should use Acid to make my own soundtrack. Maybe next time.

Comments

drthurston wrote on 8/23/2002, 10:23 PM
The way that I understand you cannot copy music from its original source - PERIOD. You purchase the right to listen to the music from that source but do not own the music. You can sell this right only by offering the CD for repurchase. It is very difficult, very expensive, and near impossible to actually pay for the right to use the music on another media. Based on these guidelines you cannot copy the music even for your own use, certainly cannot sell the DVD that you make, and for that matter can't even show this to others without breaking the law. There is considerable discussion of this on Creative Cow but don't expect to find justification to do what you want. The basic limits are your own conscience and whether you think you will get caught (sorta like robbing banks). The legal limits are spelled out clearly on every CD "Unauthorized dupication is a violation of applicable laws"
Former user wrote on 8/24/2002, 8:39 AM
To find out about using a particular song, you need to contact the publisher. This is usually listed on the CD.

Some musicians will allow limited use in non-profit situations, but there is no standard for this, it is all individual.

If a song is popular, then music rights can be extremely expensive. In the tens of thousands of dollars for current hits, to maybe only a couple of hundred for lesser known songs. But that varies a lot.

drthurston is right though that copyrights specfically prohibit transferring music to another medium without permission. The Library of Congress web page spells out most of the copyright information.

Dave T2
salad wrote on 8/24/2002, 11:26 AM
There is some good reading in this forum containing such info dated around Aug 5, 2002, but it may have been a resurrected topic from even earlier. Sorry, I can't find it, cuz I can't remember what the actual topic was. Look back to around that date. The thread title ended with:....."Pro's Help!" and has MANY posts.
fongaboo wrote on 8/24/2002, 5:22 PM
My favorite part is where you can't even show it to anyone. Reminds me of Stalinist Russia.. people excising pictures of figures who fell out of favor out of books they owned, lest they be accused of thought crimes if caught posessing them. Can you get fined for conceiving in your head of possibly using Andrea Bocelli in your video?

Part of me wants to say go ahead and use it.. he won't see it! (Sorry crass joke there..)