Copyright question...

[idNut]

As you may know, my movie production company is about to shoot an independent film that may be sold when completed but I have some issues concerning music copyrighting. I have music in the script such as Ministry, Judas Priest, Opeth and other bands but I'm not sure what conflicts I'll run into by including this music in my movie. It's not going to be going to any box office, obviously but it may be sold at one time for like $10 on DVD.

What're your thoughts on this? What about besides music such as the mentioning of companies and such? I'm not really worried but more curious than anything. How would I go about getting permission, e-mailing or sending a letter to the owner of whatever material?

 

[Orsorum]

I would find out which record company the band is promoted through and contact them.

 

[pulse8]

Don't use copyrighted music if you plan on selling it.

You're only opening yourself up for a world of pain if the copyright holders find out that you're making money off of their music.

I don't know what kind of budget you have, but you should be able to get a decent composer for a bit of money to make music similar to the ones you've chosen.

 

[Hossenfeffer]

I just wrapped filming on a project I was in. We needed some music as well. Some ways to go:

- Find public domain stuff
- find a band (that has distribution rights) and use their stuff
- Write your own
- Contact the record company(ies) (maybe BMI or ASCAP) to see how much it would cost to use the music.

Refrain from any sort of trademarked logos/names in the film (unless you check with the company)

 

[idNut]

Originally posted by: pulse8
Don't use copyrighted music if you plan on selling it.

You're only opening yourself up for a world of pain if the copyright holders find out that you're making money off of their music.

I don't know what kind of budget you have, but you should be able to get a decent composer for a bit of money to make music similar to the ones you've chosen.

Eh...I don't want to get local bands or whatever to do this music just because it would go so damn nicely if it was the real band. I'd rather get permission than anything else. I will most definitely include the names of the songs and such in the credits so I don't see what the big fuss is all about.

Damn, greedy world.:|

 

[pulse8]

Originally posted by: idNut

Originally posted by: pulse8
Don't use copyrighted music if you plan on selling it.

You're only opening yourself up for a world of pain if the copyright holders find out that you're making money off of their music.

I don't know what kind of budget you have, but you should be able to get a decent composer for a bit of money to make music similar to the ones you've chosen.

Eh...I don't want to get local bands or whatever to do this music just because it would go so damn nicely if it was the real band. I'd rather get permission than anything else. I will most definitely include the names of the songs and such in the credits so I don't see what the big fuss is all about.

Damn, greedy world.:|

Permission costs money. Prepare to pay through the nose to use the original songs.

 

[Lonyo]

Originally posted by: idNut

Originally posted by: pulse8
Don't use copyrighted music if you plan on selling it.

You're only opening yourself up for a world of pain if the copyright holders find out that you're making money off of their music.

I don't know what kind of budget you have, but you should be able to get a decent composer for a bit of money to make music similar to the ones you've chosen.

Eh...I don't want to get local bands or whatever to do this music just because it would go so damn nicely if it was the real band. I'd rather get permission than anything else. I will most definitely include the names of the songs and such in the credits so I don't see what the big fuss is all about.

Damn, greedy world.:|

You're making money off something that contains their material, they deserve a cut of the $$$ for their part in the work too.

 

[kranky]

It's not greed - it's how they earn their living. You want to sell something that by your own admission will benefit by using their music. They are entitled to be paid.

Whatever you decide, don't use copyrighted music without permission in something you sell. If they get wind of it you'll be liable for a lot more than it would have cost to pay them for the rights. ]

I bet Harvey would know how it would work.

 

[GroundZero]

Originally posted by: idNut

Originally posted by: pulse8
Don't use copyrighted music if you plan on selling it.

You're only opening yourself up for a world of pain if the copyright holders find out that you're making money off of their music.

I don't know what kind of budget you have, but you should be able to get a decent composer for a bit of money to make music similar to the ones you've chosen.

Eh...I don't want to get local bands or whatever to do this music just because it would go so damn nicely if it was the real band. I'd rather get permission than anything else. I will most definitely include the names of the songs and such in the credits so I don't see what the big fuss is all about.

Damn, greedy world.:|

got to check ascap for sure...and contact the bands and/or their record companies.
stiff penalties for using their stuff without a royalty or permission.

 

[yellowperil]

If you're selling your movie, I believe that clearly falls outside the 'fair use' exception to the '76 Copyright Act. You're going to have to pay for the licenses, I don't know how or how much, though.

 

[MacBaine]

Didn't you say you were never coming back to ATOT again?

 

[DaveSimmons]

It costs studios millions to legally use music in their movies, if they can even get permisson.

For School of Rock:
- Jack Black put together a cast video to beg the Zep survivors for the right to pay them to use "Immigrant Song"
- The producers couldn't get permissionfrom Epic to use any Tenacious D / Jack Black music in the movie!
(source: Entertainment Weekly)

If you ever saw the old Cher movie "Mask," with the disfigured kid who coped with it in part through Bob Seger's music, an interesting tidbit: in the book it was Bruce Springsteen music but the movie producers couldn't get the rights to use it.

Unless you're 100% sure your movie will never be seen by anyone except family and close friends, stay away from the copyright infringement. Even if you give away the DVD free, the copyright holders can clean out your collective bank accounts and leave you paying off a settlement for years.

 

[pulse8]

It's not that expensive to get songs.

From bands he listed, he could probably get rights to the songs for about $5,000 per song, but that will probably only last for a year or so. Anything after that you'd have to pay them again or remove the songs from the film.

I worked on a documentary and the licensed some Moby and Paul Van *** songs. They ran anywhere from $3,000 to $5,000 per song.

 

[DaveSimmons]

> I worked on a documentary and the licensed some Moby and Paul Van *** songs. They ran anywhere from $3,000 to $5,000 per song

Interesting -- at the time did you look into prcies for more long-term licensing, multi-year and video & TV use rights?

 

[pulse8]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
> I worked on a documentary and the licensed some Moby and Paul Van *** songs. They ran anywhere from $3,000 to $5,000 per song

Interesting -- at the time did you look into prcies for more long-term licensing, multi-year and video & TV use rights?

Unfortunately, no. They could only afford it for the year and figured they'd cross the TV or video distribution costs if the time came.

I know the studios probably pay huge amounts of money to license songs, but they also probably have the ability to do just about anything with it they want.

It's not worth it in the long run for very low budget movies to license songs because if you want to do anything after the copyright runs out you're screwed. Better to pay someone to write original music for it so you can own the movie as a whole.

 

[Bv3]

For the movie Clerks over half the budget went to liscensing the music used, so it can be pretty expensive.

 

[pulse8]

Originally posted by: Bv3
For the movie Clerks over half the budget went to liscensing the music used, so it can be pretty expensive.

ummm...The soundtrack as it stands on the current release is not the same as the original, as far as I know. I think Miramax paid to have those songs added to the film.

 

[idNut]

How about besides music like game titles and sh!t?

 

[EyeMWing]

Many games utilize public domain SOUND EFFECTS, but rarely is the music public domain. Your best bet is to find a local band (Go clubbing some place with live music) and get them to help you out with a few original songs.

Don't even bother trying to get permission for RIAA music.

 

[idNut]

Originally posted by: EyeMWing
Many games utilize public domain SOUND EFFECTS, but rarely is the music public domain. Your best bet is to find a local band (Go clubbing some place with live music) and get them to help you out with a few original songs.

Don't even bother trying to get permission for RIAA music.

I wasn't talking about game music but the mentioning of game titles in the movie.

 

[EyeMWing]

Originally posted by: idNut

Originally posted by: EyeMWing
Many games utilize public domain SOUND EFFECTS, but rarely is the music public domain. Your best bet is to find a local band (Go clubbing some place with live music) and get them to help you out with a few original songs.

Don't even bother trying to get permission for RIAA music.

I wasn't talking about game music but the mentioning of game titles in the movie.

Oh. Email the publisher. I'm sure they'll appreciate it, considering they aren't as afraid of bad press (They give THEMSELVES more bad press than a few media mentions ever could). And if they don't, you can always make a play off the title. Quake 3 becomes the infamous Quack 3, etc.

 

[CanOWorms]

Originally posted by: EyeMWing

Originally posted by: idNut

Originally posted by: EyeMWing
Many games utilize public domain SOUND EFFECTS, but rarely is the music public domain. Your best bet is to find a local band (Go clubbing some place with live music) and get them to help you out with a few original songs.

Don't even bother trying to get permission for RIAA music.

I wasn't talking about game music but the mentioning of game titles in the movie.

Oh. Email the publisher. I'm sure they'll appreciate it, considering they aren't as afraid of bad press (They give THEMSELVES more bad press than a few media mentions ever could). And if they don't, you can always make a play off the title. Quake 3 becomes the infamous Quack 3, etc.

Why can't you mention the game names? That sounds strange...

 

[EyeMWing]

Originally posted by: CanOWorms

Originally posted by: EyeMWing

Originally posted by: idNut

Originally posted by: EyeMWing
Many games utilize public domain SOUND EFFECTS, but rarely is the music public domain. Your best bet is to find a local band (Go clubbing some place with live music) and get them to help you out with a few original songs.

Don't even bother trying to get permission for RIAA music.

I wasn't talking about game music but the mentioning of game titles in the movie.

Oh. Email the publisher. I'm sure they'll appreciate it, considering they aren't as afraid of bad press (They give THEMSELVES more bad press than a few media mentions ever could). And if they don't, you can always make a play off the title. Quake 3 becomes the infamous Quack 3, etc.

Why can't you mention the game names? That sounds strange...

Ever notice how computers in movies are NEVER Windows based? They always have some funky proprietary OS dealie going on? Because in a movie, computers invariably crash or get hacked (Or used for hacking). Bad press for Microsoft. So it's more of a formality, since you can't really do much that's going to portray a game in a worse light than the game itself already does with it's 'senseless slaughter'

 

[CanOWorms]

Originally posted by: EyeMWing

Originally posted by: CanOWorms

Originally posted by: EyeMWing

Originally posted by: idNut

Originally posted by: EyeMWing
Many games utilize public domain SOUND EFFECTS, but rarely is the music public domain. Your best bet is to find a local band (Go clubbing some place with live music) and get them to help you out with a few original songs.

Don't even bother trying to get permission for RIAA music.

I wasn't talking about game music but the mentioning of game titles in the movie.

Oh. Email the publisher. I'm sure they'll appreciate it, considering they aren't as afraid of bad press (They give THEMSELVES more bad press than a few media mentions ever could). And if they don't, you can always make a play off the title. Quake 3 becomes the infamous Quack 3, etc.

Why can't you mention the game names? That sounds strange...

Ever notice how computers in movies are NEVER Windows based? They always have some funky proprietary OS dealie going on? Because in a movie, computers invariably crash or get hacked (Or used for hacking). Bad press for Microsoft. So it's more of a formality, since you can't really do much that's going to portray a game in a worse light than the game itself already does with it's 'senseless slaughter'

I could understand that since the OS design could be copyrighted or whatever, but not even being able to say in a movie script "I have a Windows-based computer" or "I like playing Quake 3"? You sure about that?

 

[pulse8]

You can say just about whatever you want even if it is negative.

You can't, however, show an operating system GUI because it is copyrighted.