I'm part of a youth program who is currently educating students in the art of making movies and types of animation. I wanted to ask if someone can give me the full detail of the position of music being used in movies that we create that is owned or copyrighted by someone else. Do we need to ask permission from the source itself before we can use it in our movie or is it ok as long we give reference to where the music came from in or ending credits. We are a non profit organization in San Jose and a source told me as long as we don't earn money from the movies we make than its ok. Is that right or not. I would appreciate any help in this area of using copyrighted music in independant movie making.
make sure you get lots of CD's by more obscure bands as they generaly easyer to contact and quite like the idea of you using there music!
Mike Futcher - www.yogyog.org
You might look into artists that are offer a Creative Commons License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/ca/
There are more and more people using this form of copyright.
Geoff
www.geoffedwards.ca
"The dog is Cerberus, the girl Zoe, I'm Dirge"
The answer is "it depends". Technically, you're not supposed to use copyrighted material unless you've secured permission and a license, which stipulates how the material can be used and for how long.
In the real world, you can generally get away with "fair use", that is, use that is not for profit and doesn't compete with the copyright holder's use. For example, using a clip from a Celine Dion album as music for your demo reel is generally considered fair use. A bad idea, but fair use.
However, you always run the risk of the copyright holder finding out, being hard-line, and suing you. And it's always more expensive to license the music after the fact than doing it up front. The artist has you over a barrel - you've already used their material - and can charge whatever he or she wants.
If you're not going to have total control over what happens to the material, it's probably a better idea to get permission up front or use royalty-free music from one of the services that provides it. I'm assuming you're providing copies to your budding Spielbergs - that could be a problem.
If you're a non-profit, you might try just asking the rights holder if it's O.K. to use the material. They may say yes and not charge a fee. Be sure not to use it if they say no or ask too much money though. You've already established your desire to use it, so if you're caught later without clearances, you're in for it.
Another option is to get a local band or bands to record stuff for you or give you permission to use their stuff.
Better to be cautious than to expose your organization to potentially expensive retribution :D
This should explain things for you:
http://www.utsystem.edu/ogc/intellectualproperty/copypol2.htm#test
http://www.utsystem.edu/ogc/intellectualproperty/musguid.htm
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