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Re: RAT copyright question???
Jeff-
Pre- recorded music is (almost always as far as I know) covered under two
organizations- the main one is ASCAP (the American Society of Composers
Athours and Performers)
There are basically two routes to obtaining the legal right to use
pre-recorded bits of music ( I think recently this has come to include
electronic sampling and remixing). One is to obtain permission for each
piece either from the original artist/publisher/agent or from ASCAP/BMI; the
other is to get a license from ASCAP/BMI which will allow you to use the
music under certain conditions and restrictions, and covers a wide range of
affiliated composers and popular artists. They have a website which is
probably a good place to start...www.ascap.com. They also have offices in
most major metropolitan areas.
To license or not to license is one of the swords of Damocles for Theatre
producers; You would think most artists would be grateful for the extra
exposure and new audiences, and you're statistically unlikely to get caught
usiing tunes without a license; However, they DO have auditors, and there is
a Tip-Line, so it IS possible to get caught, and the consequences can be
pretty serious, legally and financially. Since you're working with a
'non-profit' ( i presume you mean a charity of some kind ) and one of the
possible consequences of being caught without a license is to lose 501
status, It would probably be best to get the figures and see if it's
worthwhile to buy the rights - otherwise, It may be cheaper to have original
music written ( which is far preferable in SOOOOOO many ways...).
YET ANOTHER OPTION...'classical' music (Bach, Beethoven, Mozart etc) is
considered public domain and can be used more or less with impunity...
Good Luck...
Skip
----- Original Message -----
From: jeff kitchen <danish50@hotmail.com>
To: <rat-list@whirl-i-gig.com>
Sent: Friday, June 23, 2000 6:40 AM
Subject: RAT copyright question???
> I am directing a play for a non-profit organization and would like to use
a
> good bit of music in the play... does anyone know the rules governing
> copywright's, as to who i would need to talk to about rights, cost and
that
> sorta thing. Any money for rights to songs is coming out of my pocket so
any
> advice would be helpful
>
>
> thanks,
> jeff
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