Graduation DVD

[Danny Grigsby]

[mark Suszko] “The law stinks, but it is the law; work to change it if you don’t like it.”

Ok, how do we change it? I think this is something that definitely needs fixed, but I’m an editor, not a lawyer/lawmaker. The process for acquiring the rights on these small scale projects is ridiculous, and in many times the cost of the rights would be more than the project itself could bring in.

There needs to a way to pay a fee, once a year, once a month, whatever that gives basic rights clearance, similar to what a bar owner would do, except this fee should cover everything, performance, sync, etc. I know that my company would gladly pay the fee. As for BMI & ASCAP, they shouldn’t have a problem with this because they would be making some money from people who previously had been paying nothing. Then, when someone is caught in violation it’s a bit more simple…you pay this fee once a year, or we’ll sue you.

Like I said though, I have no clue how to get the ball rolling on this, but as a community, who needs to be able to both pay our bills and cover our
ass(ets), I think this really needs to be looked at a bit closer and actually doing something about it rather than being argued and re-argued over and over again via online forums.

Now then, I’ve had a long day, and actually want to stop thinking about “work” for the moment, but I urge everyone to get together and find a solution to this once and for all.

WhiteH2O

[Mark Suszko]

I understand the Aussies have a somewhat more enlightened system for this, but I don’t have all the details, perhaps some COW reader from Down Under will elaborate.

“Meanwhile, back at the hall of justice…” check out the free online version of this guide to copyright produced by some brilliant folks at Duke University. It doesn’t give you all the answers, but frames the problems for small producers pretty well.

https://www.law.duke.edu/cspd/comics/

I feel discouraged that we can get this government to get enlightened about fair use, because large corporations (like the one that puts orphans in all their animations) pay big money to lobby politicians, and they keep extending Sonny Bono’s copyright act on into perpetuity. The status quo makes the big media conglomerates rich and gives them power to harass any potential competition, they like the law just fine as it is: impenetrable and unworkable, creating a paralyzing effect on outsider productions. I’m all for protecting my intellectual property, but controversy over incidental background instances of music and imagery has gotten ridiculous. It needs to be reformed, the playing field leveled.

We little producers are not organized enough to counterweight all that lobbyist money, so the law will stay the way it is until enough of you all get mad, get together, and bring your representatives back to the table for a reasonable compromise.

[Rob Davenport]

Have you seen THIS !

https://www.digitalweddingforum.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=1109842&an=0&page=0#1109842

The DWF is proud to announce an agreement in principle that will, for the first time, allow wedding photographers and videographers to dub fully-licensed popular recorded music into their client slideshows, DVD’s and video.

This agreement includes the opening of an online music store specifically for professional photographers and videographers to sample and download from a catalogue of 2 million major and independent label songs.

The tentative annual licensing fee will be $299 for 50 songs licensed for client slideshows, dvds, and videos. You will be licensed to burn as many as five copies of each downloaded song for your individual client. DWF members will be able to utilize this service at a discounted price of $249 year.

In addition, the agreement will allow professional photographers and videographers to download songs for website streaming. A catalogtue of 1.2 million independent label songs will be made available for pofessionals to use as theme music for their websites at a fee of $125 per fully-licensed song.

The DWF has always staunchly supported the protection of our photographers’ copyrights on the images they shoot. We’re proud that members of our industry will finally, via this exclusive arrangement, be able to respect copyrights of music recording artists, and legally provide our clients the music and service they want!

We anticipate the online music store will be open by the end of 2006!

Best,

Rob

[Jeffdriscoll]

Jumping back a little in the thread…

“I was under the assumption that if an orchestra is playing a piece of music that is the public domain, there shouldn’t be any issues. ”

In my limited knowledge of this stuff from a purely music perspective, if a band (speaking concert band, not rock) or an orchestra releases a CD they still have to get permission from the publisher of the music to use that. My understanding is that while the “melody” is public domain, it’s the arragnement – the parts, the chords, the instrumentation, the varaitions – that the band is playing where the hang up comes. I’m contacting someone I know in the music publishing world to see if he can shed any light on this. About a year ago, a concert band he conducts sold a Christmas CD with songs that you’d assume are public domain, but he still had to go through steps to secure rights to sell those tracks.

[Shayne Weyker]

The following document will at least tell you what a lot of pros (albeit documentary makers) who have spent a lot of time thinking about this have come up with.

https://centerforsocialmedia.org/rock/backgrounddocs/bestpractices.pdf

Here’s what it’s about…

“Documentary filmmakers have created, through their professional associations, a clear, easy to understand statement of fair and reasonable approaches to fair use. Fair Use is the right, in some circumstances, to quote copyrighted material without asking permission or paying for it. It is a crucial feature of copyright law. In fact, it is what keeps copyright from being censorship. You can invoke fair use when the value to the public of what you are saying outweighs the cost to the private owner of the copyright.

Download this useful handbook, written by veteran filmmakers to help other filmmakers understand some instances where using copyrighted material without clearance is considered fair use.”

I think a summary of the most interesting bits from that document ought to make it in the CoW magazine or newsletter.

–Shayne Weyker

[Jeffdriscoll]

I e-mailed Robert Sheldon at Alfred Music Publishing who I know from a local group that he directions:

“from what I understand…reproduction of any published arrangement of a piece would fall under copyright protection. If the piece is PD but the arrangement is not, then the publisher should be contacted to obtain permission. Sometimes the publisher will provide permission gratis, but usually they require at least a minimum fee. The method used is typically 8 cents per piece (unless it is a very lengthy composition) times the number of CDs or DVDs sold. There is sometimes a minimum fee, like $500 for example, so if the total of the 8 cents X number of copies amounts to only $60 or so, you still have to pay the $500, but this depends on the publisher.”

[Ron Lindeboom]

You friend’s numbers pretty much coincide with my own experience in these kinds of situations, Jeff.

Thanks for taking the time to post your comments.

Best,

Ron Lindeboom

[J. D. mack]

All across the U.S., there are *small* video production companies that are videotaping and duplicating graduations, school assemblies, weddings, bar and bat mitzvahs, etc. There is no way to pay every song publisher and record company a hefty minimum fee for each composition or recording that is overheard in the video and still keep fees reasonable. What the music publishers need to do is come up with a blanket license for small production companies (those that make less than $XXX per year) similar to what ASCAP and BMI provide for public music performance. I know that most small companies would be willing to pay this, but as it stands right now, the music publishers are not getting *anything,* and most of the small production companies feel like there’s a sword hanging over their necks every time they are hired for a job.

J. D

[Chip Johns]

Have you talked with the band director?

I remember back in highschool, I played timpani in the concert band. Our spring concert was recorded and a record was produced. The music that we used provided us the rights to do this.

Since the video is for members of the school’s graduating class, the rights may already be included with the purchase of the sheet music.

Start by talking with the band director.

[Nick Sharples]

Thanks for all of your input, we found that when they purchased the rights to perform the music/ the musical arrangement, it also included the video copyrights… thanks for all of your advice