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Acquring Rights to Cover a Song

Hey there, n00b here in need of some help.

I have an indie hard rock/metal artist who is to work for free, recording a song to use for the end credits of an upcoming film I'm working on. I know of a very fitting song that would be perfect, but I want the band to cover the song, making it a lot more 'heavy’ or whatever.

I'm looking into acquiring the rights to cover the song from the major label that released and owns the rights to it, and I was wondering about the cost (ballpark) and the processes it'll take to accomplish this task.

I don't know if this would make any difference, but what if the song was a single a few years back and received a small amount of radio airplay? Or what if the artist was no longer signed to that label?

Should I contact someone involved with the label and ask for their permission, and then just go from there?

Thanks in advance for any sort of help/advice.
 
Depending upon the artist possibly four to six figures plus points if it is a "well known" song.

Your best bet is to contact an entertainment attorney; they know all the ins and outs.
 
Contact the label and ask them who is in charge of releasing music rights for films. Call that person.

Talk to them nicely and politely and explain to them that you are an indie filmmaker, one with limited funds and monetary resources. Tell him or her that you wish to get the publishing rights for the song - this is the "written by" side of rights releases; the other side, if you wanted the original artist, woulds be performing rights. If you are a student filmmaker, mention this - they are sometimes more sympathetic to students.

There are levels they can release the rights for: film festivals only, distribution on DVD (or other media) and theatrical distribution. Film fests, by themselves, are generally the cheapest rights to clear; then self-distribution, then theatrical is, generally, most expensive. Try to negotiate for all rights that you will need at the same time - if you know you're never going to try to sell or distribute it, but want film festivals to see the film, just go for that. But, if you eventually want to try theatrical distribution after your festival run, negotiate that up front. The reason being that, if you have great success on the fest circuit and there are people clamoring for your movie for distribution, the music rights folks will recognize that more money is available for rights, and they will ask for it then.

Depending on the original artist, the company's size, the mood of the music rights clearance person that day, etc., you can pay as little as three figures - the sky is the limit on what they can ask for, though.

Good luck!

gelder
 
You have several options.

First of all if you are not making money off of the work then there is a grey area legally. My band did a cover of a Cars song "Who's going to drive you home,' when we were signed. Since we were giving the work out for free there was essentially no legal issue and while it is a courtesy to ask permission from the publisher you do not have to. The first step would be to call The Harry Fox Agency. They have many forms of licensing available. Some licenses are $20. But again if you are giving away the project for free then you really have no monetary liability whatsoever. If you were sued they would have to prove a monetary loss by your gains. If you have zero gains then they have no damages and therefore no case. While it is their copryright there are also certain fair use exceptions. I would attempt to contact the bands management, sent them a finished version of the use of their song asking them to review it for approval. If they say no you can license it anyway through Harry Fox to cover your ass. But again: The Harry Fox Agency can guide you though this process and answer your questions. The Harry Fox Agency is essentially the accounting firm for the music industry that conducts royalty dispersement audits to determine if artists are getting payed correctly in addition to handling publishing clearances and other industry services.

However, if you are selling the film then you have to negotiate. I recently made contact with Q Prime--Metallica's management to inquire about use of Big Four Footage we shot on the iPhone. No response of course. This is when you need an attorney. I use Donald Passman's office. While management companies will most often not respond to indies they will respond to people they have relationships with. Entertainment lawyers are Gods, especially good ones like Passman. They have a way of making the impossible happening--for $500 an hour of course.
 
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You can cover any song you like and release it for sale as long as the proper royalties are paid ( no permission needed) but as soon as you sync it up to your movie you need a sync license. No need to contact the record company because you are not wanting to obtain rights to the original recording but you do need to contact the copyright owner of the song. Either the band or band management are the people you need to talk to. Tell them your situation as stated by Steve Gelder. The songwriter copyright owner has the right to nominate any figure they want.
 
I've used Harry Fox a few times before.. I don't think it would work for you anyways. Harry Fox makes you choose how many units of the song you want, whether your putting it up for download from sites like iTunes, or if your selling it physically through CD's. Harry Fox doesn't have an option for using the song in media like films. You'd probably have to go to the label.
 
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