I have filmed a Band Promotion video for a friend's cover band. They play cover songs for 80's and 90's artists, such as Pearl Jam, Billy Idol, Van Morrison, etc. This 5 minute video was shot at 3 different locations, and was done for free. The audience that has watched this video, to date, is about 700-1000 viewers.
Q1 - If you make a video for free, and assuming it gains widespread viewer attention, do you need to pay music copyright fees (assuming the song placed in the video is the actual song from the actual artist)?
Q2 - If you include songs played by a cover band, as I have done in this video, do you need to pay music copyright fees?
As I add more shot locations for this cover band, I will improve their Band Promotion video and charge them a fee. I know that viewership under 1,000 might not be something to worry about copyrights, but I have other bands looking for promo videos that might reach a much larger audience. Thus, I'm trying to prepare against any copyright legal issues.
Kelly
Thursday Oct 28, 2010 at 12:41 pm
michael
Thursday Oct 28, 2010 at 10:44 am
This is a really confused and complex area, with lots of opinions, so I will give you mine and a link to a pretty good website. I am not a lawyer here and the best bet is to talk to one. Never the less, if you are selling the work it is pretty clear you need all rights and clearances. If you are going to use it for your own purposes, you don't. Posting on the web enters us into that rather gray area. If you're promoting the band playing covers, do you have to pay? Probably technically yes, but then again, probably the band is technically required to pay. I was quite astonished to read that if you sing Happy Birthday in a restaurant you are, in theory, required to pay Time Warner. Go figure.
Anyway, take a look at this and lemme know if this helps
http://www.school-video-news.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=306:copyright-issues-when-using-music-in-videos&catid=33:copyright&Itemid=51