Using Commercial Music and Insurance Question « Videomaker Community Forums

doncolga
Member

Hi,

I'm really new to this and have two questions.

Can commerically available music be used on video photo albums or other types of video productions, like home movies? If so, how can that be done properly? If not, what are the alternatives?

Along these same lines, what types of liability/insurance coverage should a videographer have?

Are there any good sites with information pertaining to these topics?

Thanks,

Donny

Posted 5 years ago #
compusolver
Member

Donny, those are some very broad questions that involve legalities. Please don't take this advice as being from a legal expert...

No music, commercially available or otherwise, can be used, distributed, etc. without the express permission of the copyright holder. It is generally accepted that individuals who have purchased a legal copy of a song, may copy the song and use it in their home videos, assuming it is for personal use only.

Note that there are rights that are pertinent to the title and rights pertinent to the performance. For that reason, even a title that is in the public domain may not be freely used without the permission of the person who holds the rights to that particular performance.

It is prohibitively expensive for a small-time video producer to acquire the rights to a popular piece of music. There are, by the way, several types of "rights", the description of which would take more space than these posts are intended for.

There are companies who sell rights to music they have performed and either wrote or the titles are in the public domain. You'll find several of those noted (and linked) in these forums, if you use the Search feature.

You can also buy software like Cinematize or Sonicfire, that creates loops and can time them to your video pieces.

There was a recent magazine that had an excellent article on this subject. I can't recall for sure, but I think it was either "Digital Video" or "Event DV".

As for insurance, there is liability insurance, equipment coverage and "errors and omissions" insurance.

You can learn more from places like -
http://www.videouniversity.com
http://www.4evergroup.org
http://www.weva.com

Posted 5 years ago #
doncolga
Member

This would also apply to images by professional photographers that had been sent in by clients also correct?

Thanks!

Donny

Posted 5 years ago #
compusolver
Member

I don't quite understand your question, but all creative works - whether written, painted, drawn, photographed, etc. are protected by copyright laws.

Posted 5 years ago #
doncolga
Member

Hi,

Thanks so much for the information. I certainly appreciate it. My question was in regard to someone sending me pictures to put in a DVD photo album for them and also them requesting certain commercial music be set to it. If I'm charging for this service, then these two things would be no-no's, unless I have written permission from the copyright owner of the pictures/music...that would be correct right?

Thanks!

Donny

Posted 5 years ago #
compusolver
Member

Are you selling the service or the music/images? Sounds like you're only charging for the service. If the client supplies the material and signs a statement that the material is to be used for personal display only and that the client has purchased the material legitimatly and if you have every reason to believe the client, in most cases you can accept the statement in good faith.

As a wedding videographer, I take the extra step of purchasing requested music on the client's behalf from Napster, etc., then sending the CD to the client with their finished video. My contract includes a statement that the client signs that says that any supplied copyright materials have been legally purchased by the client and that the client intends the video to be for personal use only, not for public display.

Posted 5 years ago #
cwillsher
Member

Unfortunately, just because you have bought and paid for the music doesn't give you the right to copy it onto any other medium, whether for profit or not. To do it properly you would need to purchase a sync/mechanical licence - depending on whether you are in the US or Europe.

If you have made money from the act of copying commercial material and effectively redistributing it then you would be liable regardless of your contract with your client. The chances of getting caught are of course slim but that's copyright law.

Sorry! :(

Colin

Posted 5 years ago #
compusolver
Member

this topic has been beat to death on other forums, so I won't belabor it here except to say that the above poster's likely motivation is obvious from his business link - he wants to sell music.

Actually, when you purchase a track from Napster, etc. it DOES give you the right to make a copy onto another medium - a CD. Also, it has been legally established that consumers have the right to copy onto other mediums as long as it is for their own personal use. If a consumer wishes to pay someone else to make that copy for them, that is irrellevant. The issue is on the usage. Whether for profit or not, the music may not be used in any manner other than for that individual consumer's personal use. "Personal use" includes the right to display for family and a few friends.

As my final statement on this topic, this has been thoroughly researched and there has never been one single case of copyright infringement being brought against a wedding videographer for doing as I have described. There HAVE been cases brought where the videographer used such music in his Web demos or in distribution on his demo DVDs.

The above poster is from the UK, where copyright laws are different than here in the US.

Posted 5 years ago #
cwillsher
Member

Hank, I can see why you make your assumption but I'm not like the majority of royalty-free music companies that turn up to advertise their wares and then disappear for six months and if you look at my other posts on this forum you will see that I am always happy to advise regarding the issues that I have some understanding of. From your first post on the topic I assumed that you had no 'expert' knowledge on the subject, whereas I have worked for over 10 years for a major broadcaster in the UK in music copyright. You'll see from my website that I am also a wedding videographer in the UK, so my interests are many and varied and I'm just bringing my knowledge to the table like everyone else.

You're right on a number of counts. Yes, this subject has been beaten to death and there are plenty of places to find out all you need to know on the subject and yes, things are slightly different in the UK as opposed to the US which is why I made that point in my post.

Reading (very quickly) through Napsters terms they don't really touch on what you can't do with the music, only that you may make a number of copies to CDs and portable devices but I would argue that synchronising that music with moving (or not moving) images would be a violation. Indeed it also states that "You may not share Downloads with anyone else."

This is just how I read it, plus the knowledge that the commercial recordings aren't 'owned' by Napster but by a record company who generally require sync licences to use their material on audio-visual productions.

Again, I'm sorry if that's not what you want to hear but that's how I understand it.

Best wishes

Colin

Posted 5 years ago #