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RAT Re: Honduras
Dear Rats-
This rat is now in Progresso Honduras for the next year working with Teatro
de la Fragua. In addition to being hotter than hell in these parts the
theater is rocking. Or that is to say so much more that I expected. While
at the last RAT Conference in the States I had muttered something about
trying to get some rats down here for a festival conference sort of thing.
Am still sussing out the possibilidades. We are going to be touring the mid
west and parts of Texas in October and hope to meet more Rats during that
time. Meanwhile I am really working on my empathy for our ESL brothers and
sisters.
The company actually gets up every morning and works out for an hour and
then reheares each day. Oh my back its been too long since acting school.
more bulletins as events warrent.
Oh by the way, if anyone remains unconviced that the States is an Empire
just come down here and meet a country and people upon whose necks we have
our foot firmly planted.
Jack Bentz
------Original Message------
From: "Donna Sherritt" <ohbelladonna@hotmail.com>
To: rat-list@whirl-i-gig.com
Sent: June 23, 2000 7:38:07 PM GMT
Subject: Re: RAT copyright question???
I'd like to second the option of contacting the artist directly (depending,
of course, on who the artist is). We had luck a few years ago getting Iris
Dementhe's personal permission to use her music in a play here in Dallas.
If the artist is someone of that ilke (ilk?), you might have some luck. If
it's someone like Frank Sinatra, good luck. If you're particularly attached
to a piece of music, do what your heart and conscience lead you to do. If
you can be flexible, and you originally wanted Frank Sinatra, contact a
local musician and ask him or her to imitate the style. I've also had
breathtaking experiences working with local musicians, and many of them are
excited for the opportunity to create original work for theatre. Then you
have the added bonus, if they're popular, to have their crowd come see your
show if you use their name in your p.r. I've also had this experience.
Good luck!
donna
>From: Ty Furman <tyf@pobox.upenn.edu>
>Reply-To: rat-list@whirl-i-gig.com
>To: rat-list@whirl-i-gig.com
>Subject: Re: RAT copyright question???
>Date: Fri, 23 Jun 2000 14:38:22 -0400
>
>A professional sound designer that I have worked with told me that 30
>sec or less is legal...
>
>Ty
>
>Thadd McQuade wrote:
>
> > Friends,
> > I have been told by both ASCAP and BMI that they will not license
> > (either piece by piece, or the yearly license that clubs can get) any
> > work for theatrical use. If anyone has been able to do this recently
> > through ASCAP or BMI please let me know. We have had some success
> > dealing with the publishing companies and artists directly, but it is
> > a long road. The difficulty of this process has caused us to work
> > primarily with local musicians, which is, of course, a noble and
> > rewarding thing in and of itself. There are many times, however, when
> > we would love to use a piece of pre-existing music, and are dissuaded
> > by the hassle and expense. It is too bad and tempting to just ignore,
> > as many of us fly so far below the radar of the publishers anyhow, but
> > we should remember that the musicians and composers are our fellow
> > workers and deserve both the credit and the cash.
> > For those who have no ethical problems with "borrowing" work from our
> > musical friends, a cautionary tale: a tiny company in our town managed
> > to get a reviewer from a major performance magazine to come down to
> > see their show. Their show became the subject of a very favorable
> > article which mentioned the company's skillful use of a particular
> > piece of music. The publisher read about it, fined them and shut down
> > the show. It was a wake up call for the whole performance community.
> > Remember too, that music of long-deceased composers is often still
> > performed by contemporary musicians, and that that performance is
> > still owned by a publishing company that has more lawyers than you do.
> >
> > I would love to hear how other companies or individual artists have
> > dealt with this issue.
> >
> > respectfully,
> > Thadd McQuade
> > www.foolery.org
> >
> > francis wrote:
> >
> >> The last time I looked into the ASCAP/BMI route, I was told I needed
> >>
> >> to get a year's license from each, if I was using music from each,
> >> and that would total $20,000. Doesn't matter how often you use it
> >> in
> >> that year.
> >> Of course, that was a couple years ago, and they may have come down
> >> in their prices. But I would be careful about who you tell your
> >> plans to, if you're really intent on using published work. It may
> >> be
> >> a lot more than you're willing to spend, and then what do you do
> >> once
> >> you've alerted the publishers of your intent?
> >> The idea of original music is best if you want to stay legal. Or,
> >> you keep it really quiet and hope for the best.
> >>
> >> Francis
> >>
> >> >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
> >> >>
> >>
>________________________________________________________________________
> >>
> >> >> Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at
> >> http://www.hotmail.com
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >
> >
>--
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>We work in the dark - we do what we can -
>we give what we have. Our doubt is our passion,
>and our passion is our task.
>The rest is the madness of art.
>** Henry James
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>Ty A. Furman
>Coordinator of Student Performing Arts
>University of Pennsylvania
>521 Annenberg Center
>3680 Walnut St.
>Philadelphia, PA 19104
>215-898-2312 Phone
>215-573-8056 Fax
>http://pobox.upenn.edu/~tyf
>
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