Actress singing a popular song?

mjjason

mjjason

Well-known member
Would I need to get a release to a use a song if my actress is going to sing it in the movie (she will only be singing, there will be no music playing)? For example, if she sings Amazing Grace would I need to get the proper forms to use that song or does that only apply when you are using someone else's recording.
 
I believe amazing grace is in the public domain. Any other copyrighted song, you would need to get a release. But I'm not a lawyer.
 
You are right. It looks like Amazing Grace is in the public domain. I found a site that list songs in the public domain and it is on there. Not sure how accurate the site is but if anyone is interested here it is:

http://www.pdinfo.com/list/a.htm
 
mjjason said:
Would I need to get a release to a use a song if my actress is going to sing it in the movie (she will only be singing, there will be no music playing)? For example, if she sings Amazing Grace would I need to get the proper forms to use that song or does that only apply when you are using someone else's recording.
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If the lyrics and melody are in the public domain then you can use it. But be careful, sometimes things are not what they seem. For example, "Happy Birthday" is commonly believed to be public domain but in fact it is still under copyright and Time Warner, the present copyright owner, makes a tidy sum off of the royalties they collect for its use and they do enforce their rights when they find it's being used without permission.

The copyright for the words and music to a song is different from the copyright on a recording of the song. "My Old Kentucky Home" by Stephen Foster is old enough for the words and music to be in the public domain, at least I think it is, and you can make your own recording of a performance without worry. But if you buy a CD of a recording someone else has made of it, you still can't use the track off of that CD in your movie without clearing the rights with the owner of the copyright to the CD.
 
hahaha, wait are you serious? Happy Birthday is owned by a big, evil corporation? ;)

So if I sing Happy Birthday to you, should I send Time Warner a check, and if so, how much? lol
 
If she is just singing Lyrics to a popular song, you will need to find the person who owns rights to those lyrics. In your search for that person, you will find out whether or not it is public domain.

BMI and ASCAP may be good resources to check out to find out how to get rights to toe lyrics of a song that you want an actress to perform on your film.
 
LeDirector said:
If she is just singing Lyrics to a popular song, you will need to find the person who owns rights to those lyrics. In your search for that person, you will find out whether or not it is public domain.

BMI and ASCAP may be good resources to check out to find out how to get rights to toe lyrics of a song that you want an actress to perform on your film.
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Not quite. If she were merely saying the lyrics, then you would only need the permission of the person or company that holds the copyright to the lyrics. But if she's singing them, then you also need the permission of whoever holds the copyright to the tune as well.

.
 
"Amazing Grace" is PD (hymn written in 18-something).

I read an article a few weeks ago by a researcher looking into the "Happy Birthday" copyright issue, and found that it has been PD for a long time, and the company taking royalties has no proof to their claim. It will take someone to sue or be sued first to get things settled though...
 
Steve House said:
The copyright for the words and music to a song is different from the copyright on a recording of the song. "My Old Kentucky Home" by Stephen Foster is old enough for the words and music to be in the public domain, at least I think it is, and you can make your own recording of a performance without worry. But if you buy a CD of a recording someone else has made of it, you still can't use the track off of that CD in your movie without clearing the rights with the owner of the copyright to the CD.
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A little unclear here--while Steve is correct that any text or tune in PD can be recorded by you with your own people and instruments without worry, you ALWAYS need to check the copyright dates first. Just because something was written so long ago that it should be PD now, doesn't mean it is. There are actually several classical peices written back in the 1700s that are still copyrighted because the copyrights have been extended every time they go out of date.

pdinfo.com is usually accurate. You can also go to the ASCAP website or the BMI website and they've got good search engines. While I wouldn't rely on the pdinfo website, it is a good place to get started. You should at least be able to find who owns or last owned the copyright and go from there in your research. I would, however, completely trust ASCAP or BMI. That said, there's no substitute for actually calling up the company who last owned the copyright.

Unfortunately pretty much everything you use has to be licensed anymore--just read a story two days ago about a film-maker who was forced to license a song that was used as a ring-tone--and the phone wasn't even supposed to ring! It just randomly rang during filming and since it was a documentary, it stayed in. Kinda nuts what the world is coming to, if you ask me.

Amazing Grace is public domain (first published by John Newton in 1779). For future reference, the best way to check PD on most hymns is to get a hymnal (the Trinity Hymnal published by Great Commission Publications is a good one for this) and at the bottom of each hymn, they'll list copyright info if indeed the lyrics or tune are still under copyright.
 
JonathanLB said:
hahaha, wait are you serious? Happy Birthday is owned by a big, evil corporation? ;)

So if I sing Happy Birthday to you, should I send Time Warner a check, and if so, how much? lol
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I am absolutely serious. I think the copyright is in force until 2022, something like that. While if you sing it at a private party who's to know, don't try to use it in a movie or commercial setting without paying royalties. They've been especially vigilant in collecting royalties from restaurants who have the wait-staff sing to birthday celebrants - that why so many chains have their own versions slightly altered from the original. I read somewhere that royalties from that one song net T/W about $20 million a year in revenues - that might be an inflated amount but the song is definitely one you have to pay to use.
 
davbeisner said:
A little unclear here--while Steve is correct that any text or tune in PD can be recorded by you with your own people and instruments without worry, you ALWAYS need to check the copyright dates first. Just because something was written so long ago that it should be PD now, doesn't mean it is. There are actually several classical peices written back in the 1700s that are still copyrighted because the copyrights have been extended every time they go out of date.

....
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You are absolutely correct ... thanks for adding the clariifcation.
 
davbeisner said:
There are actually several classical peices written back in the 1700s that are still copyrighted because the copyrights have been extended every time they go out of date.
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Incorrect. Nothing created in the 1700s would still be in copyright. Nothing.
 
What if you're shooting a documentary and there is some elevator music playing in the background?

And what about if an actor is humming a piece of music from one of the Beatles songs for example?
 
Originally Posted by filmman
What if you're shooting a documentary and there is some elevator music playing in the background?

And what about if an actor is humming a piece of music from one of the Beatles songs for example?

Both of these would require clearance, I believe.
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chapelgrovefilms said:
Both of these would require clearance, I believe.
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Correctamundo.
®Happy Days
 
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