Cover songs rights?

[Finnegan]

A friend of mine is a musician in Newport Beach. He asked me if I'd do a music video for him and since I'm always willing to shoot something, especially for friends, I told him I'd do it. Here's the problem, or at least, I perceive this to be a problem: the song is a cover. He does not own rights to the song, but its his own rendition of the song from the ground up - he sang the vocals, played the guitar, percussion, bass, and synth tracks and recorded it all on his own.

But - I don't plan for this video to be widely circulated or distributed at all. Is it possible we could get away we just making sure to credit the original artist in full or would we have to get rights to even make the video?

 

[Huy Vu]

Even if it's a cover being recorded from the ground up you need to get the appropriate licenses to use the song.