HELP! How do some people get away with using licensed music in their films???????

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New10

Quick question to all u pros *& maybe newbies might know*

can any of u tell me how this guy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3bRPHPQsOs

and many others like him on youtube such as this girl: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qg-2rDnWCJA

get clearance for the music in their videos? the guy is just a newbie filmmaker and im pretty sure he doesnt have the resources to "buy" the rights to a kathy perry song like that.

are there some loopholes ? i notice that youtube only removes audio from certain videos but then leaves others up why is that??

help! thanks
 
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Just cuz something's posted on Youtube, that don't mean they've got proper clearance. I personally had a video on Youtube, for many months, with copywrite infringement galore. My vid was just for fun, and I wasn't trying to gain anything out of it, so I didn't feel any guilt. My guess is that the same applies to these guys, and they're probably just going unnotticed.
 
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Cracker Funk said:
Just cuz something's posted on Youtube, that don't mean they've got proper clearance. I personally had a video on Youtube, for many months, with copywrite infringement galore. My vid was just for fun, and I wasn't trying to gain anything out of it, so I didn't feel any guilt. My guess is that the same applies to these guys, and they're probably just going unnotticed.
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how can it be unnoticed when his video has over 100,000 views and hers has over 5 million?
 
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New10 said:
how can it be unnoticed when his video has over 100,000 views and hers has over 5 million?
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Oh, I didn't see that part. Still, that's a lot of hits, but how do you know anyone that cares about the copywrite infringement has seen it. There is A LOT of copywrite infringement on Youtube. Do you know how many full episodes of "Star Trek: TNG" are on there? Oftentimes, full movies can be found on Youtube -- it's practically the Wild West of the internet.
 
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According to the law you must always - repeat, always - get the proper clearances if you are going to use copyrighted material (music, video/film, photos, products, etc.) in your works whether it is just for fun or major distribution. Many copyright holders do not bother with infringement lawsuits, but there is always that danger. The artist formerly known as and once again known as Prince is notorious for slapping lawsuits on even the most minor infractions; he will not even allow his music videos to appear on YouTube. Other artists apparently feel that exposure is exposure and tolerate nonprofit usage of their material.

If you are going to submit your project to a festival 99% of the time you must have proof of copyright clearance or your submission will be automatically rejected.

So go ahead and use copyrighted material in your not-for-profit project; just be aware that there may be con$equence$.
 
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you'll find that all over utube and even in some of the more "professional" work that ppl upload on sites like vimeo.

it doesnt mean they have clearance.

if the copyright holders want to sue them, they can.
 
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Ernest Worthing said:
you'll find that all over utube and even in some of the more "professional" work that ppl upload on sites like vimeo.

it doesnt mean they have clearance.

if the copyright holders want to sue them, they can.
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so tehcnically ur saying that the guy who used katy's music can get sued if the record company cared enoguh?

what i dont understand is why youtube immediately removes some audio and then lets other audio lke his stay up??

is there really no set rule? seems like its just the luck of the draw of whether they "Feel like" removing the audio or not
 
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New10 said:
so tehcnically ur saying that the guy who used katy's music can get sued if the record company cared enoguh?
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YES! It's their property and their prerogative (I now owe Bobby Brown money).

New10 said:
what i dont understand is why youtube immediately removes some audio and then lets other audio lke his stay up??

is there really no set rule? seems like its just the luck of the draw of whether they "Feel like" removing the audio or not
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Youtube gets so much content that they spot check some and wait either for the public or the lawyers to contact them... and if the lawyers contact, generally it's with a cease and desist letter prior to going after either youtube (who takes stuff down for CYA reasons) or the poster (who Youtube will give the info for based on the Terms of Service that we've all agreed to on there - also for CYA reasons).
 
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Honestly if you get noticed I take that as being a good thing. Means your stuff is getting noticed. I say use it blow up and pay them back. And most likely they won't notice. In life I never seen anyone make it big without doing something a little illegal. Remember Steven Spielbergs story on how he got on. In my opinion some people worry to much about the small things and not worry about getting there film noticed to get it distributed.
 
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Just cuz something's against the law, that don't make it theft. Personally, I see a BIG difference between using someone's music for something in which you will make no financial profit, and something that is for profit. Yeah, sure, in the eyes of the law, they're both illegal.

So what? Plenty of things are legal that are ethically and morally wrong, while plenty of things are morally and ethically okay, but illegal.

In my opinion, with copyright infringement, while it's a legal black/white issue, morally there's a lot of grey area.

Look, technically, I broke the law to shoot my first feature. I had absolutely no permits to shoot on any public streets, yet I did it quite a bit. So what? You're going to have a very hard time convincing me that what I did was morally or ethically wrong.

I'm with LFO on this one. There are TONS of artists that would gladly let you use their music, free of charge. But if you absolutely need a particular piece, and this isn't a money-making venture, I say F the law. Do it.
 
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But his post is basically asking if it's okay. This is something he needs to decide for himself. He doesn't need to start a forum post for validation to make it okay.
 
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learnfilmonline said:
Cracker I'm with you too man on the legalities. Like I said Steven Spielberg did what he had to do at Universal to get in.
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Okay, on a sidenote, I'm officially a fan. You're not here all that often, but I like a lot of what you post, and I like what you're doing with the Learn Film Online thing. However, would you please consider changing your logo? It's a nice-looking logo, but I personally have a difficult time looking at it without being reminded of one of the worst boy-bands in history. :)

Remember these guys? I guess I'll stay slightly on-topic by posting another example of copyright infringement.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHuGG_FsC20
 
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Some people do it but it could be trouble in the long run. If you don't have the music rights then you can't sell it or put it in festivals. Making your project kind of a dead end, unfortunately.
 
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Its kinda a matter of if anyone is watching...Ive seen some indies from the 80s that were for profit that had Led Zeppelin songs in it...and I highly doubt it was agreed to...being the kind of movies they were. (Porn)

If an issue was ever brought up...the tapes would have been pulled...stealing is wrong...but you only get punished if you get caught...and its up to the owner to find out about it.
 
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Youtube cut a deal last year with Universal music that basically allows them to leave up user-generated videos which contain music from their artists. Youtube shares ad revenues with Universal - you'll notice on the Katy Perry video they've also added links below the video to buy the song via itunes or amazon. Basically Universal has wised up to the fact that users are creating free advertising for their music, and instead of fighting it they've embraced it. However, Youtube still removes soundtracks if the music is from another label that they don't have a deal with - I'm only aware of the Universal deal, but there may be others.

So, as far as the question of whether it's ok to do it goes, I guess the legal answer is 'as long as it's a Universal Music artist'. If it's not you may or may not get away with it. But you also have to ask yourself if you really want to work to produce free commercials for Universal Music - as others have said, there are thousands of great independent artists out there who would love for you to use their music and could benefit a lot more from the promotion. I'm personally on the side of supporting my fellow independent artists, so all the music in my films either comes from people I know or creative commons-licensed artists from jamendo.com.
 
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