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Music rights – please advise !!
I really hope someone can advise me on the following –
I’m a student for fashion photography.
For my graduation project, I shot and edited a beautiful 3 minutes video.
I put a huge amount of effort into this project.Already from the start, the inspiration for this project has been a certain piece of electronic music which I love.
I got inspired and had an amazing idea which I loved.
Since I loved the idea so much, although I’m a student, I decided to invest some money on this project.I wanted to make it right, and contacted the music right administration in my country (Israel)
They told me that it’s not a problem especially since it’s a student’s film and since I have no intentions of gaining any profits from it.So I got an “OK”, and happily went ahead and produced the video.
I’m now in the final stages of editing.
Unfortunately, everything seems to fall apart –I was referred by the rights administration in my country to the publisher of the music which are in the UK.
After tons of emails and questions, they told me that I got a rejection from the writer of the music.I’m really broken by this.
This music was the inspiration for the project. I can’t change it. It won’t be the same.
I understood that perhaps I shouldn’t have asked for permission from the start.
That worst case, you tube would either mute the music or worst, take off the video (see: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6013276?hl=en)
But most chances are that I would get a disclaimer and acknowledge it and then the video can be online but without any monetization (which I don’t need anyhow)
But now, since I got a rejection, if I put it online I’m afraid I might get sued.
(and I wanted to be straight, wanted to do it right, but now I’m f’d)So,
1. I uploaded the video to Youtube, and configured it as “unlisted” (Not public. Only someone with a link can view it)
2. It only received the following copyright notice: “Your video is blocked in some countries” (and the country mentioned is Germany)Q1: The video is “unlisted”. Can I post it on my Facebook page ? Can this get me into trouble ?
At least I would like my FB friends to watch it.Q2: Perhaps I can set the video to Public? Is that too big of a risk?
My understanding is that if I get a disclaimer I can simply acknowledge it and the video will be legally online just without any monetisation.Q3: What would you recommend ? Any possible way for me to solve this and post the video on FB ?
This video is my baby.. it’s my art. It’s a student’s video with absolutely no intentions for profit.
All I want is to put it on YouTube / Vimeo and at least post it for my friends.Your advice is much appreciated !!
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7 Replies
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Dear Tal,
[Tal Mor] “This video is my baby.. it’s my art. It’s a student’s video with absolutely no intentions for profit.
All I want is to put it on YouTube / Vimeo and at least post it for my friends.”[Tal Mor] “After tons of emails and questions, they told me that I got a rejection from the writer of the music.”
It is very simple, as in that it is not your music to use if you haven’t got the permission for it. I am sure that you will recoignise the issue if the boot was on the other foot, and someone took your footage, against your wishes, and added it to their sound-track of choice.
If you wish to have any career at all in this industry, then you must respect other peoples copyright.
That was the harsh bit. Now the kind-ish version:
With all the middlemen in play you will need to find a way of appealing directly to the musician. Maybe ask specifically as to why you have been turned down: Is it quality? content? rights already sold to another brand? or some other reason that you are not aware of?
Have the musician got an agent, rather than the publisher?Good Luck
All the Best
Mads@madsvid, London, UK
Check out my other hangouts:
Twitter: @madsvid
https://mads-thinkingoutloud.blogspot.co.uk -
Unfortunately, this is absolutely right and not what you wanted to hear.
That music was another artists baby, and their art, and they have the right to approve its use with whatever project they choose. If they decide nothing, its up to them.
I’d suggest harvesting some tracks from a site such as premium beat and finding the closest possible match to your piece and using this instead. Or you could find a talented musician and see if they could create something that sounded similar, but not exactly the same as your preferred piece….
Just out of interest – which track was it and which artist holds the license for it?
Co-owner at Pollen Studio
http://www.pollenstudio.co.uk -
Your initial impulse to do it right and ask for permission was very professional.
That said, you are already on record now as having asked and been told no, so, any attempt to keep using it publicly could put you in legal hot water, as you’d have no defense of being ignorant. Judges take a dim view of people who knew they were breaking a law and went ahead anyway.
Setting it to private or unlisted, and sharing just among your facebook friends? How many “friends” are we talking about? And what’s to stop them from re-posting the private link outside of your circle?
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Just to be clear: definitely finish your school project with the music.
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Thanks everyone for your feedback.
I completely understand and agree with all of your explanations.If only the music rights administration in my country told me from start that it’s going to be a problem.
(they kind of misled me and told me that it won’t be a problem since I’m a student, they even told me the price)I will have to change the music. Or find a composer who can create something as strong.
I learnt a lot (the hard way) from all this..Tom, the track is “Odd Look” by Kavinsky.
I wish I could get in touch with him.. show him the video… he might be convinced 🙂
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[Tal Mor] “I will have to change the music.”
Is the student project completed? For student work, you can use any work as long as your work is for a grade in a class. The point here is if you’ve already spent substantial time on the project and now have to start over, your grade could suffer.
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Thanks Richard.
The project is 99% completed. I already presented it in class.
You wrote: “For student work, you can use any work as long as your work is for a grade in a class.”This is what I was initially told by “Acum” the music rights administration in my country.
I’m interested in uploading the video to Youtube / Vimeo.
It’s a beautiful clip… I guess it could potentially fit into Vimeo Staff Picks.
But since I don’t have the rights I will not try to send it to them.All I want is to post it on my Facebook page for my friend’s to watch.
I assume it might get a few hundred views, not more… that’s it. That’s the whole story.Thanks
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