Steve Wargo
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COW Coins
4
Premiere Pro Coins
Forum Replies Created
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Tyler,
The answer is “It’s wrong to do but you’ll probably get away with it and no one will ever know”. We do not want to give you any bad advise and you’ll have to decide.
We use a gal in New York when we have these questions. http://www.bzrights.com
Steve Wargo
Tempe, Arizona
It’s a dry heat!Sony HDCAM F-900 & HDW-2000/1 deck
5 Final Cut (not quite PRO) systems
Sony HVR-M25 HDV deck
2-Sony EX-1. -
I am completely against copyright infringement so I’ll go ahead and post a little more info on the whole dance thing.
A lot of companies that use music in shows and recitals have an “Amateur Performance” ASCAP-BMI license that they pay about $500 a year for. This covers using the music during lessons and then during their performance for Aunt Betty and Grandma.
However, it is seldom that they have actual mechanical rights that cover the video guy shooting and selling the product. This is why I recommend that the client do the selling.
Now, as for my own history, we had an assignment a few years ago (11 now that I think about it), and the client, the country’s largest community college district, and they needed a song from Shaquille O’Niel. We called his record company and left a detailed message. The owner of the label called us at home that evening and thanked us for asking because most people just run with it. He gave us a verbal clearance on he phone and followed with a legal document the next day. But, what he told us was that they have this problem every day and it would take a full time 20 person legal team to stay on top of it. He went on to say that it costs him a thousand bucks to send a cease and desist order to someone by the time they go through finding them, getting an address and putting the wheels in motion with the attorney’s office. And this is with in-house council. Next, he said that they realize that people “use” their music all of the time and it took 10 years just to get party DJ’s to sign license agreements. Additionally, they do not consider all of this minor stuff to be stealing because the people are not really trying to steal anything. They’re just “using” it.
So, even though it’s not really right, they really don’t have a problem unless they feel that they have actually been injured (financially). This was different for the DJ business because that’s how the DJs made millions. One thing he said was that it is actually illegal to play a CD in public. So, at what point do you press the issue? Napster is a good example of when the legal battle starts.
One thing that a lot of people don’t know is that ASCAP-BMI pays rewards for blatant CR infringement. People who work hotel AV can fetch some $$ by turning in the big companies who are playing “We are the Champions” or whatever.
So. my advise is “Don’t do it” but if you do, nobody really cares.
On another note, the music industry is going after some housewife who decided that CDs are too expensive and she downloaded a bunch of music, made hundreds of CDs and sold them to her children’s friends. They want $20K from her and they are not giving up.
One more thing: When we needed the college piece, they also wanted a piece from Smashing Pumpkins. That was $100,000. We didn’t buy it.
Steve Wargo
Tempe, Arizona
It’s a dry heat!Sony HDCAM F-900 & HDW-2000/1 deck
5 Final Cut (not quite PRO) systems
Sony HVR-M25 HDV deck
2-Sony EX-1. -
Regardless of copyright, no one cares about you video taping their event. However, don’t do the job based on sales.
You need to get paid just like any other job. Supply the program DVDs to the dance school for $5 each. Let’s say you charge $350 for the job and they have orders for 50 DVDs. You have an invoice for them for $750. They sell the DVDs for $15 each to break even or $20 to make a profit.
Steve Wargo
Tempe, Arizona
It’s a dry heat!Sony HDCAM F-900 & HDW-2000/1 deck
5 Final Cut (not quite PRO) systems
Sony HVR-M25 HDV deck
2-Sony EX-1. -
[Mike Cohen] “You could always sign up some beta testers here on the COW”
That was going to be my next suggestion. Run your thoughts past some of us old timers to see if we know of it ever being presented before. I have had a zillion ideas that I’ve never acted on because of the time and money involved in bringing a product to market.
One group that has done a few interesting products is VF gadgets. We have one of their handles on our F-900. Their stuff is far from cheap but it all works.
Steve Wargo
Tempe, Arizona
It’s a dry heat!Sony HDCAM F-900 & HDW-2000/1 deck
5 Final Cut (not quite PRO) systems
Sony HVR-M25 HDV deck
2-Sony EX-1. -
HD stands for High Dollar. Get used to it.
Steve Wargo
Tempe, Arizona
It’s a dry heat!Sony HDCAM F-900 & HDW-2000/1 deck
5 Final Cut (not quite PRO) systems
Sony HVR-M25 HDV deck
2-Sony EX-1. -
Did you push it in 1/4″ with your fingertip and let it pop out?
Steve Wargo
Tempe, Arizona
It’s a dry heat!Sony HDCAM F-900 & HDW-2000/1 deck
5 Final Cut (not quite PRO) systems
Sony HVR-M25 HDV deck
2-Sony EX-1. -
I believe that Boomer would have the info on booth cost because he did that for several years.
I, too, have thought about some products along the lines of what you’re discussing. I am a former machinist and metal fabricator, having designed and built things for both the custom motorcycle and off road racing industries and I still make all of my own brackets and mounts whenever I need them.
Whenever I was in the custom car business, the had a “new products” area at the SEMA show every year where people like you could introduce something new without buying a booth. NAB has needed that for decades and when we contacted them in the early 90s to suggest it, they were not receptive at all.
Steve Wargo
Tempe, Arizona
It’s a dry heat!Sony HDCAM F-900 & HDW-2000/1 deck
5 Final Cut (not quite PRO) systems
Sony HVR-M25 HDV deck
2-Sony EX-1. -
I think that what we’re saying here is that under certain circumstances, NAB is the only place to get your info and sometime it’s the worst.
When we go, we have a specific agenda that we stick to and I try in advance to set up appointments to see certain people. I try to go on Saturday and leave on Tuesday night. I buy full fare tickets so I can be flexible on when I come and go.
Steve Wargo
Tempe, Arizona
It’s a dry heat!Sony HDCAM F-900 & HDW-2000/1 deck
5 Final Cut (not quite PRO) systems
Sony HVR-M25 HDV deck
2-Sony EX-1. -
[Michael Belanger] “Still , I think Apple should make a small presence just to handle their huge client base of FCP users.”
Agreed. But how would you like to be the team of ten who get buried by the onslaught of Applebys?
Steve Wargo
Tempe, Arizona
It’s a dry heat!Sony HDCAM F-900 & HDW-2000/1 deck
5 Final Cut (not quite PRO) systems
Sony HVR-M25 HDV deck
2-Sony EX-1. -
So what did this job pay? It looks to be in the $60K range.
We had someone on the Indie Film forum a while back that said that he got a long term gig from Craig’s list that paid very well. It turned out that it was $500 a week and the person had to own a camera, accessories and a workstation to create, shoot and edit commercials for the web. At last contact, I believe they owed him two months pay.
Steve Wargo
Tempe, Arizona
It’s a dry heat!Sony HDCAM F-900 & HDW-2000/1 deck
5 Final Cut (not quite PRO) systems
Sony HVR-M25 HDV deck
2-Sony EX-1.