Using Commercial Music and Insurance Question

[doncolga]

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

[doncolga]

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

Thanks!

Donny

[doncolga]

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

[cwillsher]

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

[cwillsher]

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

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