Contract to shoot a dance recital for a school. What about the music licensing?

Contract to shoot a dance recital for a school. What about the music licensing?

on May 6, 2006 at 2:27:21 am

Hi
I've been contracted to shoot a recital for a dance school. The school is a not-for-profit organization so I'm told. They're using music, of course.

I'm concerned about any licensing that I may need in order to record the 'show' and produce DVD's with regards to the music. I may or may not be able to plug in directly to the sound system. I wonder if that may make a difference

The contract includes 50 DVD's that will either be given away or sold for a nominal fee by the school.

Can anyone give me some imput here about this?
Thanks
Allen

My web site features;
China, China Railways and music.
http://www.azagel.com

Video site;
http://www.asxvideo.com
NEW! Shanghai MagLev DVD.

Re: Contract to shoot a dance recital for a school. What about the music licensing?

by nestorl

on May 6, 2006 at 4:25:21 am

Allen, there is a recent discussion about a similar situation

Re: Contract to shoot a dance recital for a school. What about the music licensing?

on May 6, 2006 at 10:57:04 am

Thanks Nestor
I tried searching under various terms. Can't find anything except one post about cameras and shooting a recital.

Can you offer any suggestion as to what to search for?
Allen

My web site features;
China, China Railways and music.
http://www.azagel.com

Video site;
http://www.asxvideo.com
NEW! Shanghai MagLev DVD.

Re: Contract to shoot a dance recital for a school. What about the music licensing?

by nestorl

on May 6, 2006 at 12:58:51 pm

This is the thread.

http://forums.creativecow.net/cgi-bin/new_read_post.cgi?forumid=17&postid=8...

One last thing, the school may say they have a license, or they have a blanket license, but most times this license does not apply to video taping, and often not even to synchronization (as needed for a dance recital). You are completely within your rights to request a copy of the license for your records. Blame it on your attorney "If I don't get this my attorney may get very upset with me."

But you know that there is a significant possibility that the school may simply choose to work with someone else that gives them less trouble about this 'picky legal things', and unfortunately there are many videographers out there who would do it without regards for the copyright issues. Assuming the school does not have the license (and will not get it), whether or not you take this job has much to do with how much you need it and what is your stand on copyright issues.

Nestor.

---------------------------
Nestor L. Lopez
Executive Vice-President
Explorart Films
http://www.explorart.com

------
Statements presented in the message are statements of opinion only and should not be considered legal advice. Please contact a qualified entertainment attorney.

Re: Contract to shoot a dance recital for a school. What about the music licensing?

on May 6, 2006 at 6:40:41 pm

I don't need the job. I'm doing my brother a favor as he did a video last year for them. There's no money as this gal just recently bought the dance school. She wanted to provide a DVD to the parents of the students for a niminal fee to cover the expenses.

I'm very concerned about copyright and violations or I wouldn't have posted this thread. There's a chance that music is public domain or she has a license. I need to talk to her about that yet.

I have produced 3 DVD's with a 4th currently in post. All the music is licensed (buy-out) from Sonic Fire Pro, Music to Hues and Opuss. I have the right to use this music in my productions but I doubt if my license includes any preformance premissions. I do have broadcast license to use and I make a cue sheet if my stuff is ever broadcast.

I really appreciate your finding that thread for me as it's invaluable to me and quite interesting.

Thanks again
Allen Zagel
ASX Media Productions

My web site features;
China, China Railways and music.
http://www.azagel.com

Video site;
http://www.asxvideo.com
NEW! Shanghai MagLev DVD.

Re: Contract to shoot a dance recital for a school. What about the music licensing?

by nestorl

on May 7, 2006 at 12:35:20 am

Allen, I am sorry. My last post was not intended to question your position on copyright at all. The simple fact that you are asking questions is evidence enough that this is important to you. I am glad you found that thread useful and I apologize if I offended you in any way.

I wish you the best of luck with your production. Cheers, Nestor.

---------------------------
Nestor L. Lopez
Executive Vice-President
Explorart Films
http://www.explorart.com

------
Statements presented in the message are statements of opinion only and should not be considered legal advice. Please contact a qualified entertainment attorney.

Re: Contract to shoot a dance recital for a school. What about the music licensing?

on May 7, 2006 at 12:48:09 am

Hola Nestor
You did not offend me.

I just gave you my position on the subject since you brought it up. I'm here to learn and hopefully maybe help someone else. If it weren't for the Creative Cow.net, I would not have learned as much as I have over the years. Here's where I learned my video editing at the Vegas Forum.

Don't worry. I thank you for your comments. Actually I should have thought to ask the principle at our initial meeting Friday evening but it completely slipped my mind. It hit me on the way home so at least my brain is working. HA!

Thanks again for your comments.
Allen

My web site features;
China, China Railways and music.
http://www.azagel.com

Video site;
http://www.asxvideo.com
NEW! Shanghai MagLev DVD.

Re: Contract to shoot a dance recital for a school. What about the music licensing?

by John Fishback

on May 23, 2006 at 3:46:59 pm

Back in the 80s when we had a large 24 track music studio a client recorded a parody version of a popular song for use in a business meeting. The meeting was a one-time event somewhere in the middle of Ohio. It just so happened that the songwriter's brother was staying at the hotel and walked by the meeting room just as the song was being played. The result wasn't pretty with the client and company for whom he did the work paying out a lot of money to settle. This was a wakeup call for me. I had never thought about copyright issues. Now, we simply never record or use any copyrighted material without the appropriate license. Without an actual license (and despite all the rationale clients will throw at you), you are crazy to bet your business to make a few bucks.

We subscribe to a large music library for use in our productions. Recently a client asked about using music in a program which will be sold. I thought this was beyond the extent of our license so I called to check out the pricing. I was right. That use required additional licensing. Just the other day, I was starting a project that would end up streaming on the internet. I suddenly wondered if our license extended to that use. It didn't, so I signed up for that use. All the expenses are passed on to the client, so it's really not an issue. And it's not a large expense. In all the years I've been doing this I've never had a client complain about music licensing costs. It's typically a small fraction of any budget.

John

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Dual Cinema 23 Radeon 9800
FCP Studio 5 (FCP5.0.4, DVDSP4.0.2, Comp2.0.1, STP1.0.2)
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Re: Contract to shoot a dance recital for a school. What about the music licensing?

by Kelly123

on May 30, 2006 at 2:55:53 pm

I do some custom slide shows that are put on DVD and typically only sold to family members of the subject, but have discussed doing one for a graduating class that would be sold to several people. I used music off of CD's for the first couple I did but after learning more I would like to know what licenses I need to do this the correct way and where I can sign up with a music library like you stated you have. Could you send me in the right direction? Thanks.