[John Davidson]

For bonus points, buy it through my pal Sara. She’ll look out for ya.

sarah@macmall.com
Tel: 888 863 3282 ext 4869
Fax: 310 630 3429
Mon-Fri 7:00am – 4:00pm Pacific Time

[John Davidson]

We delivered our projects friday and didn’t have anything lined up for a while, so I bit the bullet. So far, no issues. I haven’t used the new prores flavors and can’t confirm any lay back to tape performance, but, it’s ok so far. If I had something in the works or was mid-project, I wouldn’t do it.

[John Davidson]

lol, exactly! Never trust the living!

Jeremy, you were right – just tested it. So that I know what to do next time (and anybody else with this deck who might want to know), these are my settings:

TCG SRC
Internal

TCG MODE
Preset

TCG RUN
Rec

TCR
AUTO

CONFI
Enable

PB/EE
EE

Thanks for the help, guys!
j

[John Davidson]

Ahhhh, that’s probably where I was getting screwed up. Internal just seemed backwards to logic and the deck manual. This stupid Sony manual reads like “The Handbook for the Recently Deceased”. Soon as I get a chance I’ll post my results.

Thanks!
j

[John Davidson]

Oops, maybe we should bill $35,000 an hour then :-).

There are some wild cards when it comes to clearance. A Kidd Rock song was 80k for one week, and a Boys Don’t Cry track was only 4k for a week, but this was air on one of the Turner Networks, not a private event. I’ve had great luck with 80’s music, but I know to stay away from C&C now!

[John Davidson]

This is what’s frustrating to me about this whole thread. It is not the editor’s responsibility to dispense legal mandates to clients. That is far beyond the scope of the editor’s role.

I know lots of editor’s think producers are useless, but music clearance is the responsibility of the producer and client. What’s next? Will editor’s start demanding to see the network’s contract with Extreme Music or Killer Tracks? Just because it’s not popular doesn’t mean it’s not intellectual property. If said library music contract expires, will you all start calling your old clients demanding masters back, including all copies of spots and shows? NO, you won’t. You’d lose all clients if you tried.

I’ve licensed dozens and dozens of popular songs in the last 10 years through my network clients. In order to obtain the licenses, we had to make rough cuts, which are technically illegal until the license clears. That’s just how it works. That said, no network will allow anything to air without music clearance. Networks have people with dedicated jobs just to obtain clearance.

It’s not even that expensive to license a song for use in a small private event. There are many smaller services that do just that on this forum listed in previous threads. I’m sure if you rate all our time at $100 an hour, the amount of time we’ve all spent talking about this would more than cover the cost to license this song for the corporate event in question.

And just to be clear, I do not endorse creative theft. All music I’ve used in my completed, aired work was bought and paid for.

[John Davidson]

Todd: “If it’s COMPLETELY internal, then yeah, you’ll get away with it. But EVERY single corporate video we’ve ever produced ended with the client saying, “Oh, now give us a version we can put on the web.” Every single time. THAT’s where you’ll run into trouble.

In that case, you do like I did last year with ABC’s “In The Motherhood” Upfront trailer – you make a version with library music (or some of those ‘free’ Soundtrack Pro cuts) – and you bill another day for the work.

The production of the piece isn’t where it’s illegal – we made tons of spots over the years with pop music that didn’t get cleared for air, and weren’t licensed. The illegality comes from the broadcasting of the work, in which case the corporation or persons that authorized broadcast and/or uploading are responsible. With that in mind, the guy can’t make calls over what is done with the work he cuts. If that WERE the case, none of us could edit anything, ever, because we couldn’t guarantee where, when, and how that work would be used. Clearance may only for one week, or one month, or on one network, etc. We’d all have to request masters back of all work delivered to clients after the clearance period, which is highly impractical. That’s why the responsibility of clearance falls on the broadcaster or executive producer (the guy who pays). The editor is not a nanny, and to lose a client because of that would be silly. And that’s also why there’s nothing that can be signed to clear the editor, because it’s not the editors responsibility to worry with that kind of stuff. He can only warn, at most, and suggest the producer consult with their legal department or lawyer.

Don’t lose a client over this. If you get seriously worried, have a backup with free music and give it to them with the final delivery. If you’re STILL worried, use blank slates and labels. And for reference, this has been nearly every single post house in Atlanta, as well as most of the ones in LA. At no time did any editor suggest to me or any of the other dozens of producers I work with that we should deal with clearance.

John
Magic Feather Inc.

[John Davidson]

This has been covered so much it’s not even funny. Will this be put on the internet or television? If it’s an
internal thing, is there really any chance that the artist or one of his/her representatives are going to come along and watch this video and sue, really? Really?

Every single network uses unlicensed popular music for upfront sizzle reels and are played in front of thousands of advertisers every spring that, if they can get away with it, I’m pretty sure you guys can do it. Although now that you’ve told the whole world what you’re doing…..

Sure, it’s not necessarily right, but to lose a client over something that you’re merely an editor on is stupid. The producer is responsible, not the guy pushing buttons.

John
Magic Feather Inc.

[John Davidson]

Sorry to hear that. If only respect, talent, and common sense were all part of the same package….

Recessions are great for weeding out this type of personality.

John
Magic Feather Inc.

[John Davidson]

Grinner,

Eat some cabbage and beans about 2 hours before your next session. It’s crude, but effective.

John
Magic Feather Inc.