Some good royalty free Wedding Music?

[bradywurtz]

I've shot a few weddings for friends for free recently to get into a groove for shooting weddings so i can begin to advertise myself and actually make some money on it. but then i started looking into the use of copyrighted music in the wedding videos and it's scaring the hell out of me.

to save myself from the burden of having to worry about getting sued for using a Jack Johnson song or something, I want to find some good royalty free songs to use to offer clients. Hopefully nothing to expensive but still good.

I just also feel like i won't be getting any clients after i have to mention to them I have to use one of the songs i purchased, and not one of their favorite songs. it really just takes away the sentimental part of the actual video and makes it feel to them like it's just a random song and nothing personal to them.

side question: what if i sold them the dvd of their wedding night/ceremony, and a music video put to one of the purchased songs i buy, but only charge them for that. and then i have a version of their montage video cut to their personal favorite song and upload that to youtube and not charge them for that? Would that be legal if i had that in a contract? because then the montage video with the copyrighted music wouldn't have been used for profit, it was just a personal video i did for them on the side, not to do with what i charged them for.

 

[paulears]

If you wish to behave and trade professionally, it's pretty black and white. It really doesn't mater if it's a freebie personal video - you used it. There is no get-out for using music illegally because it was for a good cause, or a charity, or somebody just bereaved.

It's a business decision. People often complain that video company X used copyright music illegally, while company Y cleared it and passed on the cost. Which one do you wish to be?

You can't duck out of your responsibility by trying to fudge it. Why not give the client the option. ASK them what they wish to do, have music that is instantly forgettable and cheap, or well known and more expensive. How you put it across is the important thing. I always discuss copyright with my clients - they're not weddings - most of my work is theatrical, and often we have copyright problems, and the things we produce are always publicly visible, so they must be careful.

 

[Alex H.]

what if i sold them the dvd of their wedding night/ceremony, and a music video put to one of the purchased songs i buy, but only charge them for that. and then i have a version of their montage video cut to their personal favorite song and upload that to youtube and not charge them for that? Would that be legal if i had that in a contract? because then the montage video with the copyrighted music wouldn't have been used for profit, it was just a personal video i did for them on the side, not to do with what i charged them for.

Why does this question keep coming up?

Do you have permission to use it? No? Then don't use it. There's no other correct answer.

Using a non-licensed song and uploading it to YouTube can get you in a heap of trouble, though YT's automated service is likely to strip the audio if it detects the song. Just because you don't sell it or make money from it doesn't make it legal or anything less than copyright infringement.

Think of it this way: if you use, let's say, a Jack Johnson song in a version of the video and upload it to YouTube, every time someone plays that video on YouTube you are illegally distributing a copy of that song. Period.

And putting it into the contract that you'll do this "for free" on the side? That's just providing documentation that you intend to commit copyright infringement. And it's still part of the for-profit contract, using footage they paid you to acquire, and conditional on them buying the rest of your service. You're making money off of it, and there's no way around that.

If you want to use it, and you don't own it, license it or find something else that is legal to use instead. There is no way around it. Do the right thing or don't do it at all.

If you need a line on some royalty-free, easily licensed music, read THIS sticky from the Audio section. There's even one in there that's geared specifically to wedding productions.

 

[bradywurtz]

I didn't mean to say I'd put in the contract that I'd do a version of the video for free with whatever song they wanted. That would NOT be in the contract. It wouldn't be mentioned at all. The contract would never mention anything about doing a second free video with a song of their choice, it would just be a verbal thing.


Also, I am only talking about doing this with wedding videos, no other type of videos. I wouldn't do it for corporate videos or commercial/promotional videos.


Plus, the wedding videos I'd do wouldn't be public for everyone to view on the Internet. It would be in a private password protected video just for the client. I would never display the video online for an audience. So it's more of a personal video.


If someone video taped footage of their new born child and put it to music by someone like jack Johnson, uploaded it to YouTube as a private video, and only shared it with friends and family, would they really end up being sued for thousands of dollars?


i just feel like having to have permission to use a copyrighted song in a video absolutely HAS to have some exceptions. Or why else would software like iMovie and FCPX have direct links to add music you bought from iTunes directly into your edited video? I also see WAY to many videos online of people putting lyrics to songs, dancing to songs, there's even a viral video of a funny looking kid on YouTube that lipsings to popular songs. He's never been sued and is always being used as a YouTube celebrity. How do you explain that?

 

[Alex H.]

I didn't mean to say I'd put in the contract that I'd do a version of the video for free with whatever song they wanted. That would NOT be in the contract. It wouldn't be mentioned at all. The contract would never mention anything about doing a second free video with a song of their choice, it would just be a verbal thing.

This changes nothing, though. You're still selling the footage, and the "freebie that shall not be named" is conditional on the purchase of your services.

Also, I am only talking about doing this with wedding videos, no other type of videos. I wouldn't do it for corporate videos or commercial/promotional videos.


Plus, the wedding videos I'd do wouldn't be public for everyone to view on the Internet. It would be in a private password protected video just for the client. I would never display the video online for an audience. So it's more of a personal video.

If you are in the business of wedding videography, then this is a commercial production.

As for the upload... password-protected or not, it is a distribution of an unauthorized copy every time that video is played. You have absolutely no legal right to use unlicensed material in any situation.

If someone video taped footage of their new born child and put it to music by someone like jack Johnson, uploaded it to YouTube as a private video, and only shared it with friends and family, would they really end up being sued for thousands of dollars?


i just feel like having to have permission to use a copyrighted song in a video absolutely HAS to have some exceptions. Or why else would software like iMovie and FCPX have direct links to add music you bought from iTunes directly into your edited video? I also see WAY to many videos online of people putting lyrics to songs, dancing to songs, there's even a viral video of a funny looking kid on YouTube that lipsings to popular songs. He's never been sued and is always being used as a YouTube celebrity. How do you explain that?

1) Just because you see it done on YouTube all the time doesn't make it legal. YouTube and the music publishers are cracking down on this quite a bit now, too. YouTube also now has deals with music publishers to offer some mainstream tracks for use on YouTube, and those are accompanied with iTunes or other download links. There's a section of YouTube for searching and selecting their available tunes.

2) Why does copyright licensing HAVE to have exceptions? Just because that's the way you feel, doesn't mean that copyright law agrees with you.

3) Music that you purchase on CD or by digital download is licensed for your personal use only, and that means that you can play it to your heart's desire in your home, in your car, on your iPod... but it does not mean that you can make a copy to give to some one else, or to include it in any kind of public (read: outside of your personal listening enjoyment) performance or production.

4) FCP and iMovie are both Apple applications and are designed to communicate directly with other Apple media apps. This is not a free pass to steal someone else's copyrighted material. It's because many content creators use iTunes to organize their LICENSED music libraries.

5) Using the likelihood of getting caught, getting sued, as an argument to make this okay is ludicrous. Just because you think you can get away with it is no reason to do something immoral and unethical.

There really is no debate here. And as a reminder, please review the Forum Guidelines, especially:

5. No Piracy
We’re a community of content creators, so don't post about how to rip off other content creators or endorsing it or posting bittorrent links. No cracks, hacks, warez, any of that. It's illegal, it's immoral, and it's not welcome here.

"Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching." - C.S. Lewis

 

[firehawk]

What the responders said is true.

I want to add one thing though about the included "freebie".

The commercial release on DVD of "the greatest American hero" season 1 and 2 (especially) met with considerable unhappy public reception due to the replacement of all the licensed cover songs with new music. Originally the songs were in the show and played significant meaning to each episode such as "rocket man, "eve of destruction", "don't mess around with Jim" and more. Well they didn't want to re license the songs for the DVD release.

Anyway... On the included bonus episode of "the greatest American Heroine" (which is widely not liked) they left an original mainstream commercial song as it was originally produced and it was NOT even a remade cover song like all the other ones were that they were too cheap to clear. It was the original artist! Some said it was like salt in the wound. There's no way they cleared that one song when they wouldn't clear cover songs that played intregal parts in other episodes. How did they do that?

When it comes to weddings, etc I don't take chances. My competition blatantly puts uncleared commercial music even in their demo. I can't charge $XX,XXX or more for a wedding video just so a song can be cleared and take months or years if even able to do it. Its not worth the risk to destroy a business I've sacrificed my life to build.