Hey Everyone!

My name is Tom Vosicky and I'm a filmmaker in Las Vegas. I'm currently in pre-prod for our next film - a comedy. I joined this list so that I could ask a couple questions of some of the more seasoned indie filmmakers out there. Anyway, I'm not here to promote myself - but here is our site - www.wilddogfilms.com, and our last film - www.vegaslandmovie.com. Our latest film is called White Lie and we are looking to have principal photography completed by February or March of 2010.

If there is someone out there who can educate me a little bit about using music in an indie film. I'm wondering because I'd like for my characters to sing a part of a tune from a classic movie... No music, just them singing the lyrics - anyone know if that would be problematic?

My other question, is can I use as a prop a card board stand up of Quentin Tarantino in a scene? Could I be sued for that? How would I go about getting permission for that or should I just bag the idea?

Any experienced souls out there that might know something about either of these questions???

Have a good one!!

Tom Vosicky

Wild Dog said:

No music, just them singing the lyrics - anyone know if that would be problematic?

Click to expand...

Singing the (copyrighted) lyrics to the (copyrighted) melody? Yah, that'll be problematic.

Doesn't matter if there's no "music" as such. If your actor does a spontaneous "Happy Birthday" song (very recognisable), for example, that would be an infringement if you had no permissions.

No idea about the cardboard cutout.

Good luck with your project.

Thanks for the comments

That's just the type of answer I was expecting. I guess all I can do is shoot the scene and keep it modular so I can easily leave it out of the final edit. And then when and if I do achieve their permission to use it I could always edit it back in.

Thanks a lot for a great answer!

Best,

Tom Vosicky