Audio legality question

[alenhard]

This was taken from a site that offers various video production services (video transfer, digital photo albums, etc.):

Digital Photo Albums is one of the most popular services we offer to our clients. We can take decades of old photos, and bring them to life in an animated slideshow presentation with a musical score of your choice in the background

Hundreds of other sites advertise services identical to this one where the customer can choose the songs (undoubtedly copyrighted) they want as the background music.

What legal issues, if any, are involved here? Or is it okay for a company to do this? Just curious...

[Tommyknocker]

If you want the music in your video, you have to pay for the rights. Some companies pay for the rights to add them in music videos that will be sold to their customers, and pass the fees on to you.

[alenhard]

If the customer owns the song (i.e. bought the cd)- is it okay to use?

[housepig]

If the customer owns the song (i.e. bought the cd)- is it okay to use?

nope.

but let's get straight what we're dealing with here - if you ask Joe Blow Video to put together some pictures of your grandma, and by the way, please put "Feelings" in the background music, you're not going to sue him, he's not going to sue you.

And in fact, if there were problems, he'd get into trouble, not you.

If you want to release a video with background music of some kind in your own personal, never to be sold or distributed versions, no one is going to care. If you film a bunch of skateboarders and you use some Blink 182 song in the background, and you sell it or distribute it, you need to secure the rights to the song, and pay a licensing fee to the publisher.

Do a forum search - this came up a few weeks ago, and was answered in exhaustive depth.

[alenhard]

Thanks. BTW, I did search before posting...still haven't found anything in the audio forum. I'll keep looking though. Thanks again

[alenhard]

Nevermind- I found it!

[Cornucopia]

If the customer owns the song (i.e. bought the cd)- is it okay to use?

nope.

but let's get straight what we're dealing with here - if you ask Joe Blow Video to put together some pictures of your grandma, and by the way, please put "Feelings" in the background music, you're not going to sue him, he's not going to sue you.

And in fact, if there were problems, he'd get into trouble, not you.

If you want to release a video with background music of some kind in your own personal, never to be sold or distributed versions, no one is going to care. If you film a bunch of skateboarders and you use some Blink 182 song in the background, and you sell it or distribute it, you need to secure the rights to the song, and pay a licensing fee to the publisher.

Do a forum search - this came up a few weeks ago, and was answered in exhaustive depth.

These kind of productions happen ALL the time and nobody worries about it until it's too late. Somebody finds out about it and WHAM! big lawsuit. If this happens, BOTH the video producer and the client can (and probably will) be sued. The producer because he is charging for the inclusion of something (intellectual property) that doesn't belong to him or his representatives, and the client because he initiated/requested the work. The producer can be held just a pinch less liable if the client signs a waiver of liability, but that's not very waterproof.

As far as the Artist and RIAA/MPAA (and most governments) are concerned, you don't own anything but the right to view/listen to a particular piece of work that exists in 1 particular format. If we as producers scoff at this (even if we were to believe we were in the right and that their view doesn't make practical sense or is fair), we would be risking our livelihood...

What alternative is there?
1. Make our own music / video / artwork from scratch.
2. Use free-licensed, GPL, and/or Public Domain work.
3. Barter/Hire someone to make it for us (again from scratch).
4. Use buyout/needledrop license stock libraries.
5. Get in touch with the Artist/Company or "Licensing Authority" and set it up so that you're actually "allowed" to use the work. This usually cost $$$, but is occasionally cheaper and on rare occasions could be free.
6. Skip putting the stuff in your production.
7. Do it anyway, but kill anyone who watches/listens to the work and isn't supposed to. :P

I know about this because I work at a place that spends $Ks yearly on licensing for stock libraries, just so that we can do with it whatever we want (well, within reason ).

Scott

[housepig]

Scott -

nice breakdown!

I think it really comes back to the end result - is this just for personal use, giving out a few copies to family for xmas, etc, or is this a potential commercial venture, either doing it for others or doing something (ie a skate video or something) that you are going to try to distribute or sell.

if it's for personal use, go nuts. no one is going to care. it's like recording a song with a James Brown drum sample in it that I'll never clear in a million years - if it's just for me, or to pass around to a couple friends, Polygram won't ever hear it, so they won't care.

If I press it up and start giving it to dj's, then I'm going to run the risk..