foo@erfordia.rice.edu (Mark Hall) (12/01/90)
What is needed to include a musical piece in a video soundtrack as far as copyrights go? That is, if you can't talk Bobby McFarrin into doing an original tune for your soundtrack, what can you legally use? For instance, there was a Symbolics piece, "Ductile Flow", in the 1990 SIGGRAPH Film and Video Theatre that used a pop tune (I can't remember which). What would you have to do to use something like that? On a similar note, what about soundtrack libraries I see in video magazines? What are the typical costs of such things? (I assume it would be way too high for me). Any hints on who might have such a library (colleges? Libraries? ) - Mark (Video Novice)
steve@Advansoft.COM (Steve Savitzky) (12/04/90)
In article <1990Nov30.211649.7628@rice.edu> foo@erfordia.rice.edu (Mark Hall) writes:
What is needed to include a musical piece in a video soundtrack as
far as copyrights go?
What you want is called "synchronization rights". You end up paying
the composer, the lyricist, and their publisher a royalty, probably on
a per-copy basis (I'm more familiar with the way things work in sound
recordings; video's a bit different). Any TV station or whatever that
*plays* your tape ends up paying a royalty based on the number of
viewers--this is more expensive but is handled by whatever "performing
rights organization" is handling the music (BMI for most
rock/country/etc; ASCAP for most Broadway/Tin-Pan-Alley stuff).
That is, if you can't talk Bobby McFarrin into doing an original tune
for your soundtrack, what can you legally use? For instance, there was a
Symbolics piece, "Ductile Flow", in the 1990 SIGGRAPH Film and Video
Theatre that used a pop tune (I can't remember which). What would you
have to do to use something like that?
I see from your header that you're at a university. Start with your
Music department. Also check out BMI/ASCAP, and the publisher of the
music in question (their name will be on the recording).
On a similar note, what about soundtrack libraries I see in video
magazines? What are the typical costs of such things? (I assume it
would be way too high for me). Any hints on who might have such a
library (colleges? Libraries? )
Start by checking out your college's library, music department, and
journalism department if any.
Disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer, just an occasional amateur songwriter.
Your mileage may differ.
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