Copyright and $$ issues related to online videos of covers?

[brassplyer]

Someone does a cover of a Disney song on a monetized Youtube account such as the one below. Are they supposed to get clearance to do the tune in the first place and further would they have to share the $$ with the copyright holder? I can't imagine a corporation like Disney would have any sense of humor when it comes to someone else making bank on their song if they're not getting a piece of the action.

[smrpix]

www.ascap.com/help/career-development/how-to-acquire-music-for-films

[JVRaines]

One of the copyrights is the right to make derivative works, such as a video of a song. You absolutely need permission of the copyright owner. In this case it's probably not Disney, but the composer(s) and arranger(s) of "When You Wish Upon A Star," or their estates. Permission is obtained directly or through an agency such as ASCAP or BMI. To use music in a audiovisual composition, a Synchronization License is customarily required. Compensation is a matter of negotiation, but when dealing with a large agency, they will usually dictate a lump sum.

[manono]

For most Music Composition copyright claims, the channel owner has the option to split the ad revenue with the copyright holder (and YouTube). It's very common. No special license is needed in most cases. I have no idea what Disney's policy is but all Music Composition copyright claims I've ever seen (a hundred or so?) had the option for me to declare the video a cover of someone else's work with the ability to share the revenue. Of course, I refused all the offers because the claims were all phony and the videos weren't covers to begin with.

https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/3301938?hl=en