Music in film for festival

[Dougyfresh13]

i did a quick search and i didnt find anything. anyway my question is what is the deal with using copyrighted music in your films for festivals. last semester at school my film production teacher told everyone that using copyrighted music in your films was ok if it was for a festival because of festival rights. but i did a quick search on that becuase i dont trust the guy and i didnt find anything saying that using other peoples work for a festival was legal without permission.

so i guess my question is if i wanted to use a couple copyrighted songs in my next film do i have to get permission and pay for them if im gonna submit it to a festival?


thanks for the help

 

[jls4]

for a festival - no you don't have to have permission

To get distributed yes - you do. The best thing to do (in my opnion) is just use a young artists' music from jumpstreet. There are so many - search for the type of music in your area on myspace and i'm sure you'll find alot. Email them. I email 5 people recently and got 3 responces.

Type somthing like "Detroit Pop" or "Houston Rock and Roll"

There are also other sites to find music as well. Most of them are hustling like us, so they are willing to do anything to let someone hear their music.

 

[Steve House]

I don't know where you guys are getting the idea that you don't need permission to use copyright music in a festival submission - that is totally NOT true. Unless the specific use is covered by the exemptions considered to be Fair Use, you must have permission from the copyrighjt owner(s) and nowhere in the Fair Use definitions are festivals mentioned. Fair Use would most likely cover your using something for an in-class project or as a teaching example, for instance, but unless it's for academic research or criticism that's about it. You'll need sync rights from the publisher or copyright holder for the melody and lyrics for any music,and if you wish to use an existing recording of the music, in contrast to performing it yourself or hiring someone to do so in order to make a fresh recording, you also must have permission from the owner of the copyright to the specific master recording. Most festivals require you to prove that you have obtained licenses for all music in your work or at least guarantee that you would be able to prove it if asked to do so before they will even consider your submission. You might be able to get a festival use only license from the copyright owner for little or no cost if the video will only be shown at festivals but you still have to get the licenses before you can use it.