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Music licensing general question
I have a client who, all of a sudden, is getting wound up about using popular music on corporate internal videos. I Googled around for her a bit and found a blurb on “internal licenses”, but it didn’t say much except that they’re less spendy than external licenses.
Right now she’s got a Katrina and the Waves and a Beatles tune in a thing I’m working on. Who would I even contact to talk her off the ledge on this?
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1 Reply
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[Kelly Griffin] “Right now she’s got a Katrina and the Waves and a Beatles tune in a thing I’m working on. Who would I even contact to talk her off the ledge on this?”
I would contact a lawyer who deals in sync licenses. She should not be asking you… she should be asking a lawyer but it is my understanding that it is not legal without paying for a sync license.
The problem is not internal vs external, it is public vs private. For example, you can use a copyrighted song on your personal video of your son’s boy scout moving up ceremony and it’s perfectly legal to view in your home. If, however, you take the same video to the next boy scout meeting and show it to the troop, you are breaking the law because that is a public performance. Internal corporate videos are considered public performances and require a sync license. I believe that you can use 30 seconds or less of copyrighted music so as not to infringe on copyright. Maybe that would work.
…but I’m no lawyer and I don’t play one on TV and this is not legal advice, so please consult a lawyer just to be safe. ????
~jr
http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasstsoftware.com
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