Some discussion has developed over at News Videographer about music copyright in Web videos. This issue is pretty hard to pin down.
As I’ve said before, if I use copyrighted music, I only use 15 seconds. Gannet lawyers recommend this but say under fair use there is no time percentage, only that the amount used must be fair to the “substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole,” as the copyright law reads.
I also only use music I record at the scene. I only let it play alone for no more than 15 seconds. I let the music continue playing quietly under interviews for as long as it remains natural sound. I repeat: the music is nat sound, not mood. I’ve heard many videographers use music this way — we’re all on a Gannett video listserv and this issue comes up a lot. Examples would be my videos about a ballet performance or a piano recital for a girl who has a disability. Also a video about American Idol candidates singing popular songs during their auditions would work.
These examples really just can’t be done without the music. However, they should be done with something besides music — interviews, other nats — or else they’re ripping of the musical work.
Things that are not OK (taken from the listserv):
- Event montages, i.e. clips laid over copyrighted music gathered from the scene, aka a “music video.”
- Any performance (played alone) of a work the performer didn’t create, i.e. high school band playing “Louie, Louie,” Elvis impersonator singing Elvis songs.
- Any performance in the public domain that is performed by someone with a copyright on that performance. For example, a Tchaikovsky piece as performed by the Boston Pops is probably copyrighted by the Boston Pops.
If you need random mood music, there are many ways to get your hands on music you have every right to use in its entirety. Final Cut Pro comes with music, as does Avid. GarageBand comes with loops and has more for purchase. If you get rights signed to use original music from local bands, then natch, that’s fair game too.
