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Music Licensing and logos for a short

R

rydog4

Hello,

I'm about to embark on making a short and I wanted to find out, if I use a copyrighted music cue and the short is only entered in festivals do I need to license it? What if the festival has possible prize winners does this change things? And lastly what about a band's TV shirt? Say a rolling stones Tongue and Lip logo? Do I need to get the rights to use that if the film is not making a profit? And what if it's in a contest that makes it eligible for prize money?

Thanks so much for your help.

RD
 
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Copyright - the right to copy - isn't contingent on making
a profit. It's the right of the copyright holder to control the
use of their property.

All contests have a music provision - you cannot use music
without permission.

For the most part, having an actor wearing a short with a
logo isn't an issue for an amateur film. But you may very
well limit yourself if you use it. Some festivals won't allow it.
 
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Another route you can take for music clearance is finding unsigned bands without management on MySpace...
I've crawled through many MySpace sites in the last project and when I found something I liked I sent them a message if I could use their music in the film for free. Most of the bands were willing.

Re: branding clearance, if your film is not for profit and if the logo is not used in a negative way, I think brands are mostly willing to give you permission. Having permission does give you peace of mind...

We've cleared some brands in the past and they were pretty good (actually most of them couldn't care less - "Huh? Oh, use it if you want.") and no one charged a thing. After all, it's a good advertising opportunity for them anyway.

All the best for your project,
Itsuka
 
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