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Hyopthetical Music Rights Purchase

L

Lochsley

I'm interested to see how and where I'd purhcase song rights for an old Christmas carol, though I need the original recording as it's kind of vital to a screenplay I'm working up. It's Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer by Gene Autry which was actually the inspiration to start writing it as it is the most perfect rendition of Rudolph.

So, where would I go about this? Is there some mysterious man lying around in some dark alley who gives out "Music Rights"?

Thanks in advance, my friends. :)
 
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Lochsley said:
I'm interested to see how and where I'd purhcase song rights for an old Christmas carol, though I need the original recording as it's kind of vital to a screenplay I'm working up. It's Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer by Gene Autry which was actually the inspiration to start writing it as it is the most perfect rendition of Rudolph.

So, where would I go about this? Is there some mysterious man lying around in some dark alley who gives out "Music Rights"?

Thanks in advance, my friends. :)
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You have two issues really. The song may or may not (bet it is) still be under copyright, and ALL recordings are copyrighted. They passed a law in the 1970's that applied copyright to every recording ever made. It expired in 2030, and then I think they extended it to like 2047. So you'd need permission for both the song and the recording. I researched this because I had a scene where I needed a record playing on a turntable and we had to do it by having the volume all the way down, and we'll have to add the song (an original composed for us) in post. BMI and ASCAP can probably give you the info on the song. You'll have to contact the record label about the recording rights.
 
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ASCAP and BMI are there to deal with the PUBLISHING rights, IE, the rights to use the written music as an intellectual property.

Then there are the rights to the actual RECORDING. This is why I AM SAM used all the other artists to record BEATLES songs because the BEATLES do not license their recordings for any usage hardly at all anymore.

With 100+ year old classical music, you don't have to get the publishing rights, but you still have to pay for the recording rights.
 
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sonnyboo said:
ASCAP and BMI are there to deal with the PUBLISHING rights, IE, the rights to use the written music as an intellectual property.

Then there are the rights to the actual RECORDING. This is why I AM SAM used all the other artists to record BEATLES songs because the BEATLES do not license their recordings for any usage hardly at all anymore.

With 100+ year old classical music, you don't have to get the publishing rights, but you still have to pay for the recording rights.
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Yep referenced it earlier. The "Sonny Bono Act".. yes seriously... Applied copyright to every recording on every media since the beginning of time.
 
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In a nutshell, you need a Mechanical Rights license from the person(s) who wrote the song and a Performance Rights license from the person(s) who performed the specific rendition of the song. It can be infinitely more complicated than that depending upon the agreements between the writer and publisher, performer and producer and record company, etc., the Beatles being a prime example. There are relatively standard agreements for most situations which are handled by entertainment attorneys and organizations such as the Harry Fox Agency.

In your situation it would probably be easier and much less expensive to obtain the mechanical rights and have someone record a new version of the song for you.

You should always contact an attorney to handle the legal stuff for you.
 
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Alcove Audio said:
It can be infinitely more complicated than that depending upon the agreements between the writer and publisher, performer and producer and record company, etc., the Beatles being a prime example.
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THE BEATLES have a blanket "No" to virtually all uses of their performances and recordings. Circ De Soile took YEARS to get the "LOVE" project together and all interested parties had approved it...


Led Zeppelin has similar views although Cameron Crowe got approval for his movies quickly because he knew all of them personally working for ROLLING STONE. Also Jack Black and Richard Linklater sent them an endearing and hysterical video for SCHOOL OF ROCK that got them a miraculous approval.
 
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