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Conflicting Legal Stories
So I shoot and produce footage for a local sporting club. Usually it is just copies of their games with scores and graphics inserted. A few days ago they asked my to make a video they could place on youtube. I told them they would have to get me some copyright free music to use as I don’t apply my business to the old addage “well everyone is doing it” (associated with other people using copyrighted music on youtube). They told me that there are new rules for youtube, where as long as you give the badn credit youtube will provide a link to itunes so the song can be purchased, you can use whatever you want. I’ve googled this and cannot find anything tahat concurs with what they say. However, I checked a few videos on youtube and sure enough, there was current popular songs being used with a link that pops up at the bottom of the video with a link to be able to purchase the song from itunes. I am not willing to risk my professional creditals by breaking the law. Has anyone heard of any information regarding this matter?
“Life’s a pitch and then you buy.”
-Billy Mays -
7 Replies
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No.
You’ll find asking them to sign a liability/right to use release for your records does wonders for how they view laws.
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Most liability waivers don’t hold water if they basically say you know you are breaking a law but so-and-so will take the rap for you.
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[Jay Huubs] “They told me that there are new rules for youtube, where as long as you give the badn credit youtube will provide a link to itunes so the song can be purchased, you can use whatever you want.”
I have noticed this trend and not just on Youtube. Many people are using whatever popular music they want and they seem to think it is justified because they slap on a credit with the name of the artist/band. Sometimes they even say “thanks to _______” as if the artist had given them permission. IMO, it is just as illegal as it was before no matter how blatant you are about it.
Jason Jenkins
Flowmotion Media
Video production… with style! -
LOL. As if Youtube is the governing body for the music industry! “If YouTube says it’s OK, then it must be legal”.
Stephen Schott
12Basket Productions“When you’ve got family, everything else is extra”
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The same goes for google images. People think that “because it’s on the web it’s public domain”. I had to point out to a client who insisted on ripping off photos from the web that it clearly says on the google search “image may be subject to copyright”. That still didn’t stop them.
I always inform my clients that this is “illegal” and they all have the same response – “let them sue me”. Since “the customer is always right” I concede. Do any of you say “no, I can’t do that.”? Obviously for certain “greener” clients I say no – or sometimes I blame the resolution being too low for video – but sometimes I just sigh, and do what I’m told by the producer. I’m sure I’ll get a ton of replies informing me that I am the one breaking the law – but that is not the point of this post — the point is what do you say to your clients to get them to stop asking you!?!
Editor
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It becomes a downward spiral. If I say I won’t do it, they’ll find someone that will. The reason they will, is because “everyone else does it”. It becomes kind of like the speed limit. If everyone is doing it, whose the cop going to pull over? Everyone!? Eventually the cop will pull over someone and instead of a ticket, it will ruin your business and life. I don’t want to be the one being made an example of. And then the small “mom and pop” shops think, “I’m too small for them to care about.” Tell that to the little girl in NY a few years ago that Sony started to sue for pirating music or movies, I’m not sure.
I don’t do it. They want to use footage/images/music illegally, go find a different production company. I put product out there in the world, and when it gets used this way, it is literally taking food from my children’s table. You can screw with me personally, but you start messing with my family, I’m ticked. If it was happening to these producers you work with, and they saw the money that was being taken from them, they wouldn’t do it either. They just don’t think, or don’t know, it could happen to them.Stephen Schott
12Basket Productions“When you’ve got family, everything else is extra”
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What they are telling you is completely incorrect. There is a lot of royalty free music for purchase on the internet. The Music Bakery is one good, more expensive option, but there is lots of royalty free music cheaper than that. Explain that purchasing this will be part of the cost of the creating the video for them and get it in writing that they will reimburse you for expenses. Or, if they really really want a specific song, you could tell them that they need to acquire the rights for you to use it.
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