FW: Music in student films and videos
From: Chuck Kleinhans (email suppressed)
Date: Fri Mar 19 2004 - 05:27:50 PST
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Frameworkers, enjoy!
--
------ Forwarded Message
From: Best Student Shorts
Date: Fri, 19 Mar 2004 05:40:52 -0500
To: email suppressed
Subject: Music in student films and videos
You might wish to share with your students this essay from "Sonnyboo".
Tom Hoopengardner, Producer
America's Best Student Shorts
www.BestStudentShorts.com
MUSIC & INDIE FILM
by Peter John Ross
THE PROBLEM
One of the things that can make or break a movie is the music. Can you
imagine JAWS with out the John Williams music ? What about the techno music
in THE MATRIX ? As no-budget filmmakers, we often times forget that sound
is 50% of the experience of seeing a movie, whether it be a :30 second
joke, or a 4 hour Lord of the Rings DVD. And thanks to technology, we can
physically add any music we can get our hands on into our movies.Since we
can take an audio CD from any musician, put it in a CD-Rom and quickly load
that digitally mastered song on to a timeline of our handy editing program,
temptation has all new meaning. It's like having a piece fo forbidden fruit
on every tray at a buffet.
Let's talk about why you should NOT do this. First and foremost - it's
illegal, as in against federal law. Maybe you've heard of this - COPYRIGHT.
Everyone already knows this, but dirt poor, no budget filmmakers think this
law doesn't apply to them. Popular music costs a lot of money to use in
your movies. That's probagbly why most people steal music & use it without
permission.
Secondly, here's where you have to consider another point of view (other
than our own selfish, "I'm the filmmaker" view). If you can take their
music without paying for it, then why should anyone ever pay for any aspect
of your movie? Music is intellectual property, just like your movie will
be. If you can steal their music without paying, then someone at a TV
station or a website should have equal rights to steal your movie & never
have to pay for it.
On a moral & ehtical level it's wrong to use music without permission. I am
quite sure if you saw someone selling copies of your movie without paying
you, it'd be like restraining Chris Farley at an all you can eat lunch
special. What is the difference between stealing your movie or stealing
someone else's music? NOTHING. What kind of arrogance makes us think we are
more important than musicians?
I remember being on a filmmakers panel at a Sci Fi convention in May of
2002 and an audience member asked us all what our opinion was on using
copyrighted music. I said I was against it. Another no budget company (one
I co-founded no less) piped in with a speech about how it's okay to steal
copyrighted music. They even said, and I have to preserve the accuracy in
quotes "If someone catches you using copyrighted music in your movies -
that's a good thing. That means someone important saw your movie." That is
another perspective, and they have the right to think that {{Although I do
think it's important to note that they recently lost over half of their 100
movies online for copyright violations}}
Who am I to preach? Have I ever put copyrighted music into my projects? Of
course. Virtually every first time filmmaker puts music that's copyrighted
into their movies. I did it a lot when I first started. Since then I have
made every effort to get original music into my projects or I actual make
arrangements for obtaining the rights and pay the neccessary royalties.
THE SOLUTIONS
There are struggling musicians and songrwiters just as often as indie
filmmakers. Make a connection. Help EACH OTHER out. You can get their music
played in a venue previously unavailable to them, and you can have original
music that doesn't make you nervous to play at every film festival. It's
also much classier to have your own music. It differentiates your movie
from the dozens of others using the same songs.
You can also get cheap "loop" programs like FRUITY LOOPS or Sonic Foundry's
ACID. You can quickly and cheaply create music from loops and customize the
speed, tempo, pitch and many aspects to make the music fit your exact
needs. It's better than a "cease & desist" letter from an attorney and it's
legal to use once you BUY the program (illegally copying programs is whole
OTHER article).
Stock Music libraries are an option.These cost money, but in the end it's
much cheaper than popular music. Music ranges from El Cheapo type stuff
where you can buy a CD of music for $250, then use itanytime for free (also
known as "Royalty Free" music because you buy it once & own the right to
use it anytime). Then there is the top o fthe line which is EXTREME MUSIC
which is very expensive, but incredibly good. They charge "per needle
drop", meaning you pay for each usage of the music, if you use it online -
there's one fee, and if you use it on television, there is a different
price, etc.
If you are deadset on obtaining a popular song - SECURE THE RIGHTS. Go to
ASCAP or BMI and find out how to get the proper liscensing. "Internet Only
rights" are cheap, and they invented something for no budget filmmakers
with the "Festival Only Rights" to songs to make this more affordable to
Indie Filmmakers like us. Try to do it legally, because if the RIAA is
going after individual users that download a John Mayer song on KAZAA, then
what do you think they'll do to a filmmaker trying to make money from using
a song in their movie? It's not a slap on the wrist anymore. It's a lawsuit.
SUM UP
Will you get caught? Probably not, but lately, the risk is going up. I
recently got a letter from an attorney for music I used in a movie I did
from February 2000 that still lingered on a short film website, not even a
popular site. I have since removed the movie from their site & I am
re-editing to add original music.
And because I am a former musician myself, let me say that I am not
unsympathetic to the plight of indie filmmakers. Resist the temptation to
steal music. I am giving away 9 songs for free to be used by any Indie
Filmmaker completely free with full rights. These aren't the best songs,
but they're free.
HYPERLINK "http://sonnyboo.com/music/music.htm"http://sonnyboo.com/music/music.htm
Here are other completely free music resources online for Indie Film :
HYPERLINK "http://www.freeplaymusic.com/"http://www.freeplaymusic.com
HYPERLINK "http://www.compositeur-arrangeur.com/"http://www.compositeur-arrangeur.com
I hope this helps
Peter John Ross
www.sonnyboo.com
Tom Hoopengardner, Producer
America's Best Student Shorts
www.BestStudentShorts.com
Glen Echo Associates, LLC
7212 Helmsdale Road
Bethesda, Maryland 20817-4624
301 466 5416
------ End of Forwarded Message
This is the second article
Article for Screenrights: Off the Air
Using Music in Films
Ian McDonald, Australian Copyright Council, 14 August 2002
There are basically three ways in which a producer can obtain music for his or her
film – commission a composer, reproduce commercial recordings or use library
music.
If you are commissioning a composer, what are the main
copyright issues that you should be aware of?
The first issue you need to be aware of is that the composer will not always be the
right person to talk to insofar as all of the copyright issues are concerned. For
example, if the composer has a publisher, You may need to talk some of the issues
through with that publisher (generally, the publisher will control reproduction
rights and the right to make arrangements of their composers work).
You then need to be aware of what rights you need to obtain or clear: you will need
least the rights to synchronise the music into the soundtrack of the film and to
make copies of the film. Both in Australia and in many other countries, the right to
publicly play the music in the film (for example, in cinemas where the film is being
shown) will generally be owned by APRA and its affiliated organisations in other
countries, and not by the composer or publisher. APRA and its affiliated
organisations also generally control the right to broadcast the music as part of the
soundtrack on TV (including cable TV). Nonetheless, because this is not always
the case, It is usual for film producers to secure these rights from the composer and
publisher, subject to the rights of APRA and its affiliated organisations (for
example, in the US, public performance of music in films within cinemas is not
controlled by a collecting society).
(You should be aware, however, that composers can "opt-out" of, or "license back",
any prior assignment of performance or broadcast/communication rights they may
already have assigned to APRA. If you wanted a composer to do this, you would
need specifically to negotiate this with the composer.)
Note also that the agreement will generally deal with whether the music can be
used other than in the soundtrack to the film. For example, can the producer
release trailers containing the music? What about CDs containing music from the
soundtrack? Can the music be used by the producer in other films, such as sequels?
Can the composer "recycle" the music into other pieces he or she may want to
write? and so on.
Article for Screenrights Screenrights, Using Music in Films
Australian Copyright Council 2
You also need to be aware that copyright can be dealt with by way of assignment of
the relevant rights (in which case you would become the new owner of all or part of
the copyright), or for a licence (that is, a permission to use the work in particular
ways). If a licence is to be negotiated, you should be aware that licences can be
either exclusive or non-exclusive licence.
Further, note that copyright royalties will generally be discussed (that is,
payments in addition to those monies you are paying the composer for writing the
music and, in some cases, recording it). For example, if the relevant rights have
been obtained, the agreement will deal with what royalties will be paid on sales of
videos, DVDs and CDs.
Be aware that the way any of these issues are dealt with may differ in relation to
music used in the film, and music which either is not used at all or which hits the
cutting room floor prior to the film's release.
Also, be aware that if the composer will be responsible for recording the music, you
may need to address all the above issues both in relation to the music itself and in
relation to the copyright in the recording.
In addition to copyright issues, you also need to be aware that, whether or not a
creator owns copyright, the composer has various "moral rights". (Generally,
subject to various defences such as consent or "reasonableness", composers and
other creators have the right to be attributed; the right to object to uses of their
work which would prejudice their reputations; and the right not to have their work
falsely attributed.) Moral rights issues which are likely to need to be addressed
with the composer (rather than with his or her publisher) include:
∞ how the composer is going to be attributed (for example, in the credits, in
trailers and elsewhere);
∞ whether or not the composer has any level of artistic control when the music is
being synchronised; and
∞ whether or not the producer has the right to ask for or to make changes to the
music.
As a general comment, be aware that a composer (or publisher) may not want to
deal with his or her copyright in the same way as you want them to. In many
cases, you may need to negotiate a number of issues, and reach an agreement
which is not merely a complete assignment of all copyrights, together with full
consents covering every possible moral rights abuse claim that might conceivably
arise.
As with any agreement relating to copyright, it is best to have agreements
documented in signed contracts, preferably drafted by a lawyer with the relevant
expertise.
For further information on copyright and moral rights generally, see the
Australian Copyright Council's information sheets, available from
www.copyright.org.au. The Australian Screen Composers Guild publishes a
standard agreement which it has approved (www.agsc.org.au); see also the chapter
Article for Screenrights Screenrights, Using Music in Films
on "Music in film" in Shane Simpson, Music Business Business, 2nd ed (Omnibus Press,
Sydney, 2002).
If you are reproducing commercial recordings, what are the
main copyright issues that arise?
There are generally two copyrights you need to consider - the copyright in the
recording and the copyright in the music and any lyrics on the recording. There
are therefore two copyright owners you will generally need to contact for
permission.
Contact the relevant record company for permission to use the recording, and the
relevant music publisher for permission to use the music and any associated lyrics.
What is library music and what kind of clearances do you need?
"Library music" (also referred to as "production music"), is a useful source of music
for films. This is because the copyrights in the music and the recording are owned
by the one entity – the company operating the "music library" – and because the
music is specifically written and recorded to be licensed for audio and audio-visual
productions, including films.
In Australia, most library music is licensed by AMCOS (administered by APRA).
Rate cards for both Australia and New Zealand, together with "Client Registration"
forms for production music are available on the APRA site at www.apra.com.au.
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