Legal Question in Entertainment Law in California
copywritten music for use in film and television
I am interested in a basic list of questions to ask a family that has the rights
to a library of jazz tunes that we wish to use for a film/television program in
developement. We are interested in obtaining the right to:
1. re-record the music library using different artists
2. Use the re-recordings in the project
3. Use any origanal recordings in the project
2. create a CD of the origanal &/or re-recorded versions of the tunes.
3. Distrobution of the CD
My interest is to ask the right questions to assure appropraite clearance for
the library and and understanding of:
1. The costs associated with clearance
2. Any and all ownership issues that are pertinant to utilizing the music and
compensating the family (and publisher - if applicable) appropriately.
Thank you for your time.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: copywritten music for use in film and television
You need a basic understanding of the different types of music rights. There is the copyright in the music (the notes); and the copyright in the musical performance (the recording of Musician X playing said notes). (1) and (2) involve only the copyright in the music, and (3) involves the copyright in the performance. Use of a copyrighted musical performance in a film or TV production normally requires what is called a "synchronization license." Many TV and film producers hire their own musicians to perform the copyrighted music instead of licensing the original performance, it's usually cheaper.
The complexity of all this depends on whether the copyright in the music has been registered, whether the music authors/publishers/performers are registered with a licensing agency such as BMI or ASCAP, the sophistication of the copyright holder(s), and your sophistication in negotiating/drafting an appropriate license agreement.
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