ASK & DISCUSS INDEX

10 years, 5 months ago - Oliver Park

Hi guys, thank you so much for getting back to me so quickly!

I would actually like my composer to do a remix version of the same piece of music - would that make things different?

Thanks.

10 years, 4 months ago - Vasco de Sousa

There are two kinds of music rights. There are the rights to the score, and the rights to the recording.

A score can be public domain, while the recording to the same track is expensive.

In the USA, they are separated into copyright and performance rights, which is a lot simpler than most countries. But, in the UK (and most of Europe), similar rules apply, even if the wording is different from country to country. It might sound picky to separate the two, but the distinction is important.

Also note that film copyright for music is more complicated than other rights. And note that Canada has more lenient rules, so a lot of bad advice comes from Canada and is passed down the web. (That's why you should avoid sites like archive.org, because you don't know which laws they are following.)

You said the word "remix." Technically, a remix is the same recording, so you have performance rights to deal with as well as copyright. So, no, if you're using the word remix correctly, you can't use one. A lot of hiphop artists have been sued for remixes.

What you want is a new recording, perhaps transposing the score to fewer instruments. (If I were the composer, I'd clarify if that's what you wanted.)

The recording must be original, or must be old enough to be in public domain.

Even if you have the rights, if it sounds similar to someone else's recording, you could still get sued (or at least get your video banned from youtube.) Yes, even when you pay for the rights from a legit dealer, you could get hassle.

If you hired me as a composer, I'd find something, like a section of a Sonata, that could be played on one instrument, and create a new recording for it in a DAW. I'd do this not only to avoid intellectual property conflicts, but also to make sure it lines up with the action in the film (you can squash and stretch, but that's often not enough.)

I used pre-recorded stuff before, but for my last two projects (only one of which is online) and my current one I'm avoiding it. I guess I'm doing some composing now, which is pretty fun, I'm starting to like music again.

10 years, 5 months ago - Oliver Park

Hi Paddy,

Thank you so much - just so I understand correctly, let's say it was Tchaikovsky that I wanted and wanted to do a remix of one of his single instrument - piano pieces, then I could just get my composer to write it and there would be no copyright infringements?

Thanks

10 years, 5 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

Or carefully looking through archive.org may their up a public domain recording.

Just be aware that classical and well-known don't always mean the music is out of copyright - there have been plenty of modern classical compositions and arrangements that may still be unusable.

10 years, 5 months ago - Marlom Tander

Simples - you need permission from whoever owns the copyright in the recording. Permission is often willingly given in return for money. Classical music will not be very expensive because there are many recordings of all the big pieces.

10 years, 5 months ago - Tony Oldham

Hi Oliver,

You could probably licence the track you wanted here for about £22 for festivals etc. As you're not making money I think the licence would cover it, but it also allows for up to 5000 downloads on a money making app should you wish to sell via itunes etc.

http://www.royaltyfreeclassicalmusic.co.uk/

Any new recording would place the copyright in the hands of the owner of that new master recording. So your legal agreements with any new composer/ arranger/ music producer should specify ownership. I'm not 100% sure what you wish to do, but if the track is already available on this website for £22, I think that's an easier solution.

Many Thanks, Tony

10 years, 5 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

Again, depends on the underlying work. If it's tchaikovsky then he can do what he wants, and assign rights to you, and you can get that composition recorded and own the rights to the recording. Recording orchestral music is expensive, you can get a pretty good sound from a synthesiser, but an orchestra is a significantly bigger job, certainly not worth attempting for a trailer for a short!