Prada, Gucci etc.

oh I think I know the answer to that one, from what I understand the music laws (in america) are VERY strict, a friend told me about some guy who made an excellent documentary at a film festival but it was blacklisted from all the distributors. No distribution company would touch it because it had scenes where the car radio was on. Don't mess with the music industry, they will sue everything that moves if they can get royalties out of it. The sound is considered "property" so you need a release for it... although I do recall the local news showing scenes of highschool bands playing in the past.

I believe that once again the burden is upon the discretion of the user whether or not to use the audio that may be accompanied with the video. Most Broadcast stations in the US have purchased music licensing that covers everything so they may choose to use your audio. If a documentary producer buys your clip and there is licensed music playing in the background, he/she will either get a license for it or replace the audio with something else. In the end it is not the shooter that gets sued, it is the producer of the end product. Pond5 asks that we try and remember to pay attention to the audio portion of our clips and pull it down or eliminate if it adds no value to the visual ie (wind noise) ... I almost always forget ...

Frank I think you are right. Producers most likely already pay ASCAP/BMI and have approval to use music. Small time users of video is another story. I know when I owned five restaurants were could not have any background music playing unless it was from a licensed company or we paid the ASCAP/BMI fee which is not cheap. For several years we paid the music industry then changed to a retailer of music who paid (same thing we paid).

I try to remove all audio if a radio or music is in the background to be sure. My big question is a high school marching band, or military band who are playing music that in most cases are within the pubic domain. I really don't think we as videographers have to research to see if it public domain, if it a public presentation presentation it should be ok, if in doubt P5 will label it editorial. I know many agencies that will not accept a clip if there is any music of any type but I think you are right Frank.

Don

Hi Tom,

thanks for your feedback. This was very helpful.

If I watch CNN for example I see that the market need a lot of clips also with company signs.

Lars

I suppose they probably do pay ASCAP/BMI or something like it,,,, but I took business law, and the teacher (a former lawyer) told me anyone can sue anyone for anything, the only question is whether or not you will win. So yes it is POSSIBLE (although unlikely) that the shooter could get sued if we are posting clips or property that dont belong to us.