Hello,
I joined this forum because I was hoping someone could help me with some legal questions I've been having regarding music used in a film. A friend and I are in our senior year of high school and we are in the process of wrapping up our second short film. It's partially for class credit and partially to enter in a local film festival. The movie takes place in the 1950's so naturally we needed some time era music to set the mood. Do we need licenses to all the songs we're using (there's quite a few)? Are we protected by Fair Use? If so, does fair use only apply in the classroom? What about festivals or posting to YouTube? If we do need licenses, are there any guides to getting the rights that we should follow or anyone here that could act as some kind of adviser to make sure we don't mess anything up? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
TL;DR Need help understanding copyright law for music in film
I joined this forum because I was hoping someone could help me with some legal questions I've been having regarding music used in a film. A friend and I are in our senior year of high school and we are in the process of wrapping up our second short film. It's partially for class credit and partially to enter in a local film festival. The movie takes place in the 1950's so naturally we needed some time era music to set the mood. Do we need licenses to all the songs we're using (there's quite a few)? Are we protected by Fair Use? If so, does fair use only apply in the classroom? What about festivals or posting to YouTube? If we do need licenses, are there any guides to getting the rights that we should follow or anyone here that could act as some kind of adviser to make sure we don't mess anything up? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
TL;DR Need help understanding copyright law for music in film