Sync License for a cover I recorded?

L

longcipher

Active member
I recorded a cover of a Jimmy Webb tune - it isn't a very popular song anymore - but I am wondering what is the process for using my cover version in my film?
 
If you are in the USA, here is some general information. This is NOT the same in all countries, so it would be in your best interest to at least reveal the country you are in by completing your user profile.

You must obtain a sync licence from the copyright holder of the song. You can use the Harry Fox Agency website to look up the owner. http://www.harryfox.com
If you were making audio recordings (LPs, CDs, MP3s, etc.) you could just buy a mechanical licence right there at the HFA website.

However, there is no compulsory license or statutory rate for film video (sync license) as there is for mechanical, at least in the USA.
You can contact the rights owner directly, but there seems to be low success rate with most owners of popular music.
There are rights clearance agencies who specialize in this kind of legal work.

In any case hope you have a big budget for this. That is why there is so much "sound-alike" production music.

There is a sticky at the top of this forum about this topic. Please tell us that you read that before posting here.
 
Thanks - and yes, I am in the USA. I did read the sticky, but it didn't pertain to this situation, it talked more about using original versions of popular songs.
 
But the sync license has to come from the rights-holder regardless of how popular it is or whomever recorded it.

Technically, you also need release (permission/license) from the performer(s) and for the recording itself.
Of course if you recorded yourself performing, then it is assumed that you give yourself permission. :-)
 
Dunno about elsewhere, but in the USA, you don't need a license to RECORD something.
You need a license to DISTRIBUTE or "PERFORM" (legal definition) the recording.
But recording itself is free for your own personal amusement.

Of course there are some things that are unlawful to record, but that is a different issue.

Again "fde101" doesn't reveal where he/she/it is coming from, so perhaps it is a different jurisdiction?
 
Last edited:
>>>>As well as license to have made the recording in the first place.<<<<

Richard is correct; the license would be to "get it out of the house" via physical or digital distribution, or separately to sync to picture.
And a simple compulsory license from HFA would cover the distribution part (actually, if digital distribution is involved, it's a little stickier, but for purposes of simplicity and clarity...). Having never recorded a cover that was synced to a released picture before, what I don't know is if you first need a mechanical license in order to get a sync license (since you will technically be "distributing" the song via film)? Try to e-mail or talk directly with someone from Harry Fox. You could also try Limelight Music. You could also possibly get some help (not a definitive answer, but perhaps some help) from a regional ASCAP or BMI office. Again, knowing where you are might help. Also, what song? Do you know which publishing company? Is it an indie that's still in existence, or has the catalogue been purchased by one of the majors? Jimmy Webb songs still have a lot of cool cache/cred attached; it might not be cheap. Then again, it never hurts to ask.

GJ
 
longcipher said:
Thanks - and yes, I am in the USA. I did read the sticky, but it didn't pertain to this situation, it talked more about using original versions of popular songs.
Click to expand...
Clarifying a little... Whenever you use a song where you aren't its copyright owner in a film or video, you need to obtain a sync license from the copyright owner. That's typically the song's publisher who is acting as the representative of the composer and lyricist. With just the sync license you can make your own recording and use it in your film. But if you want to use a pre-existing recording of the song, the recording itself has its own separate copyright from that on the music and you must also obtain a license (the so-called "master use license") from the owner of the copyright on the recording, typically the record label that released the recording.

Say you wanted to use Eartha Kitt's recording of "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" from the CD "Miss Kitt To You." The song was written by Otto Harbach and Jerome Kern and has been recorded by a raft of artists over the years. Your sync license would be obtained from Universal Polygram, the publisher, while your master use license would come from RCA, the label releasing the album containing Kitt's specific recording.
 
Gregg Juke said:
>>>>As well as license to have made the recording in the first place.<<<<

Richard is correct; the license would be to "get it out of the house" via physical or digital distribution, or separately to sync to picture.
And a simple compulsory license from HFA would cover the distribution part (actually, if digital distribution is involved, it's a little stickier, but for purposes of simplicity and clarity...). Having never recorded a cover that was synced to a released picture before, what I don't know is if you first need a mechanical license in order to get a sync license (since you will technically be "distributing" the song via film)? Try to e-mail or talk directly with someone from Harry Fox. You could also try Limelight Music. You could also possibly get some help (not a definitive answer, but perhaps some help) from a regional ASCAP or BMI office. Again, knowing where you are might help. Also, what song? Do you know which publishing company? Is it an indie that's still in existence, or has the catalogue been purchased by one of the majors? Jimmy Webb songs still have a lot of cool cache/cred attached; it might not be cheap. Then again, it never hurts to ask.

GJ
Click to expand...
AFAIK, mechanical licenses apply to recordings specifically distributed as audio recordings per se. The legal term in the copyright law is "phono-recording" meaning sound-only recordings distributed on vinyl, tape, or digital media such as CD/DVD. Sound-only is one thing, sound-and-images together as in a film or video is quite another thing altogether.
 
You do not need a Mechanical License for film/video distribution. You need a "Sync License".
In the USA, a Sync License is nowhere near as easy, straightforward, or inexpensive as a Mechanical License.
You only need a Mechanical License if you are distributing wax cylinders, LP discs, CDs, MP3s, etc. WITHOUT synchronized pictures. (Hence the name "sync".)

In the USA, you can get a low-volume (a few thousand copies) Mechanical License pretty much automatically at the Harry Fox Agency website.
At one time, Harry Fox attempted to get into the sync licensing business, but right-holders apparently didn't want to play along.
In the USA, there is a "Compulsory License" which forces the rights-owner to give you a Mechanical License to distribute a recording of a cover song (after their own first release).
And the Mechanical License is for a "Statutory Rate" of "9.1 cents or 1.75 cents per minute of playing time or fraction thereof, whichever is greater".
This rate is adjusted from time to time to keep up with inflation. http://www.copyright.gov/carp/m200a.html

But there is apparently more money in film/video and USA rights-owners will likely never agree to statutory rates for sync licenses unless the government forces them.
And my theory is that the US government has more on its plate than it can manage properly already. Let's not give them any more.
Although in some other countries, there are more civilized ways of getting sync licenses. I saw a website similar to Harry Fox for sync licenses in Canada, for example.
And when I went to the HFA website earlier today (to research a previous response here), I saw something about sync licenses for YouTube videos.
http://www.youtubelicenseoffer.com/
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top