Music copyright question

N

NickRocco102

New member
Hi,

I have an idea of what the answer to this question might be already (and it's not looking good for me, unfortunately), but...

I was wondering if someone with some legal knowledge/experience could tell me if there's any way I could use a cover version of a copyrighted, major label song in a short film. I would imagine that there's some kind of licensing I'd need to get for the song itself but obviously not for the original band's recording... I'd be having my own musician cover it. Any idea if there's a way to do this that wouldn't be illegal or prohibitively expensive?

Any help is greatly appreciated.
 
NickRocco102 said:
Hi,

I have an idea of what the answer to this question might be already (and it's not looking good for me, unfortunately), but...

I was wondering if someone with some legal knowledge/experience could tell me if there's any way I could use a cover version of a copyrighted, major label song in a short film. I would imagine that there's some kind of licensing I'd need to get for the song itself but obviously not for the original band's recording... I'd be having my own musician cover it. Any idea if there's a way to do this that wouldn't be illegal or prohibitively expensive?

Any help is greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...

You still need a "synch" (synchronization) license from the owners of the copyright to the music and lyrics, usually the music's publisher, in order to use the song. What you don't need if you are making a new recording yourself is the master use license from the record label that released the original recording (since you're not using their master recording). Cost of the synch license can range from free to many tens of thousands of dollars, depending on the music's popularity, the project you're using it for, your negotiating skills, and the mood of the person who owns the rights. You need to identify the copyright owner of each piece you wish to use and contact them directly. And you may find that the best way to go about that is to hire a music rights clearance agent to do the legwork for you - they know how to go about it and will probably be cheaper in the long run even after paying their fee.
 
Steve House said:
You still need a "synch" (synchronization) license from the owners of the copyright to the music and lyrics, usually the music's publisher, in order to use the song. What you don't need if you are making a new recording yourself is the master use license from the record label that released the original recording (since you're not using their master recording). Cost of the synch license can range from free to many tens of thousands of dollars, depending on the music's popularity, the project you're using it for, your negotiating skills, and the mood of the person who owns the rights. You need to identify the copyright owner of each piece you wish to use and contact them directly. And you may find that the best way to go about that is to hire a music rights clearance agent to do the legwork for you - they know how to go about it and will probably be cheaper in the long run even after paying their fee.
Click to expand...


What company would you suggest. Harry Fox is just ushering people to find the original copyright owner.

http://www.harryfox.com/public/licenseeServicesSynchronization.jsp
 
Thanks for the help, I had figured that the synchronization license would be the thing. Unfortunately, I can't seem to track down the contact info for the publisher so I may be at least temporarily out of luck.
 
NickRocco102 said:
Thanks for the help, I had figured that the synchronization license would be the thing. Unfortunately, I can't seem to track down the contact info for the publisher so I may be at least temporarily out of luck.
Click to expand...

The ASCAP, BMI, and Harry Fox Agency all have websites with extensive databases of copyright information. They are a good starting point.
 
Chamber005 said:
What company would you suggest. Harry Fox is just ushering people to find the original copyright owner.

http://www.harryfox.com/public/licenseeServicesSynchronization.jsp
Click to expand...

Yep, Harry Fox got out of the synch licensing business a number of years ago and now deals strictly with mechanicals.

I don't have any specific clearance agencies to recommend but a google on Music Rights Clearance will turn up a bunch. I think Jay Rose lists several in his Audio Postproduction book and I'll bet a query on the Gearslutz forum will get you some recommendations.
 
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