Charlie Hall Long Road Media: Use of music

Right of Use:

What is the difference between publishing rights and recording rights?

The people who own the clip or soundtrack determines how the song can be used. If the copyright is owned by a publisher and the song is sold or covered then fifty percent of the earnings go to the songwriter and the other fifty percent goes to the composer. This only applies if the music has been written down or recorded.

How would you go about clearing a piece of music for use in your film?

When looking for a soundtrack to use for a film I would research into who made the music. For example if it was sung by Beyoncé I wouldn't try to get permission to use it as there would be no chance to even get granted access. But if it was recorded by a local band or singer I would look into seeing if they had it for sale anywhere before asking them for use of it for my film. I would also look into copyright of the soundtrack to see who owns the soundtrack. If the soundtrack I was after was by a local singer or artist I could offer to buy them out. This would mean offering them a one off fee to buy their track. It would then mean that the track would officially be mine to use.

Can you use music in your sequence if the composer has died?

If the composer or artist has been dead for over seventy years the copyright of the soundtrack will have been extinguished. This means that you will be able to use it but it is also useful to double check if anyone owns the track now. For example, a record label may still own the track. Even though Michael Jackson has died his music is still owned by a record company. This means that his music cannot be used unless they give permission to use it.

What is incidental music?

Incidental music is music that is often played in the background of a film. It is normally used to create tension or build up atmosphere in a scene. Below is a video which contains incidental music from the film Prometheus.

Creative Commons:
Creative commons is a non profitable organisation that enables the sharing and use of film and soundtrack through legal tools. It is free and easy to use and it provides a simple and standardised way to give the public permission to share creative work on the conditions that they choose. There are six types of licenses available:

1) Attribution:
CC BY
This license let other people remix and tweak others work and use it for your own work or even commercially. This license is recommended for maximum dissemination and use of licenced materials.
2) Attribution - ShareAlike:
CC BY-SA

Like Attribution this licence allows others to tweak and remix others creations and use them in their work but ShareAlike only allows this if the editor credits the creator in their work. If somebody created a new remix of a song and it got lots of downloads the creator would have to be credited as the original creator of the soundtrack before it got edited and changed.

3) Attribution - NoDerivs
CC BY-ND
This license allows creations to be redistributed for commercial and non- commercial use. This can only be possible if it has passed as being unchanged and is credited to the creator.

4) Attribution-NonCommercial
CC BY-NC
Like the other licenses the editor must credit the creator when uploading their new work. They cannot use their new work commercially but can use it non-commercially.

5) Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
CC BY-NC-SA
This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work non-commercially, as long as they credit you and license their new creations under the identical terms.

6) Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
CC BY-NC-SA
This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work non-commercially, as long as they credit you and license their new creations under the identical terms.

The Creative Commons exists so that people have legal rights when it comes to people trying to manipulate their work and say that it is their own. It makes the original creator feel at ease and feel they are safe with their works online.

My Music Choice:

In my sequence I chose to use a soundtack which I found from Dolby.com . I liked the track as it had a good beat which would make my sequence sound modern. It has a mid tone and can be used for almost any short film or sequence. The genre of the music is happy or upbeat. It fits well in my sequence and doesn't sound out of place.

When going to download the soundtrack I had to fill out a form with my details and then I would receive an email in 24 hours which would contain more instructions to download my required track.

Below is a screenshot of the email I received which meant I could use the track in my sequence: