ASK & DISCUSS INDEX

9 years, 10 months ago - Rowena Meddeman

I think you may need a 'mechanical license'. Here's some more info http://www.makeitinmusic.com/licence-cover-song/

9 years, 10 months ago - Marlom Tander

OTOH in today's news, you can now do one song to the tune of another to your hearts content, so long as the words are those to Happy Birthday and the tune is one of your own devising :-)

9 years, 10 months ago - Dan Selakovich

You still have to pay for publishing rights. Just because you're not using a recording (a needle drop), there is a person out there who wrote the song who still needs to get paid. That said, it won't be as expensive as a needle drop because there are more people (usually) involved. If that were the case, you'd have to pay the needle drop and the publishing fee. For example, if you were going to use Joe Cocker's version of "With a little Help from my Friends" you'd have to pay for Cocker's recording and Lennon and Mccartney's publishing rights. If it's a popular song, the publishing rights for a film can still be very expensive. Also, if it's a feature, you're probably not going to get a deal, now matter your budget. Music licensing can be very expensive. If it's a short and ONLY to be shown at festivals, you may be able to get a "festival exemption" and get the rights for free.

You need to contact the licensing company. It's a good bet that it's BMI or ASCAP if it's an American song. They are the largest in the world. Start there. Tell them the situation. I'm not sure that this would be considered "mechanical rights", though, unless you were releasing a soundtrack of the film, and this song was on that soundtrack. Certainly "sync rights".

9 years, 10 months ago - Marlom Tander

Read this, you may need to consult a lawyer as it's clearly more complex than most people would like. http://killorcure.co.uk/how-to-release-cover-songs-the-law-licensing-cost/ - note that this is about the recording, not whether or not you need anything else for it to be in a film!

9 years, 10 months ago - Nick Cheel

For those generally interested in this topic (original composition/copyright infringement/licensing), there's an article published by PRS here - 'Inspiration or Infringement' (22 Sept 2015):
http://www.m-magazine.co.uk/creators/inspiration-or-infringement/?utm_source=PRS%20for%20Music&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=6193368_September%20Newsletter%20-%20writer&utm_content=inspiration

9 years, 10 months ago - J Christopher Daley

Thanks everyone. I have posted a slightly different question this morning regarding singing the tune of a song with different lyrics. I'd be keen to know your thoughts on this.

https://shootingpeople.org/ask/view/e04c71af169473da493882aa

Chris

9 years, 10 months ago - John Heffernan

Hi,
As your looking to licence the lyrics and tune of a song for you to perform rather than the actual sound (ie from a cd etc) you'll need to liaise with whoever manages the copyright rather than the master rights. In UK both most likely would be administered by PRS (performing rights society) or ASCAP or BMI in US.
www.prsformusic.com would explain all and you can probably do it all online.
Cheers, John