Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with royalty

Uncle-niece marriage in Europe

Charmian — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 17:31:14 -0800

I was looking at this chart of the ancestry of Charles II of Spain. There are quite a few uncle-niece marriages in his family tree. Presumably, at the time, this was permissible under Spanish or Austrian laws. When did uncle-niece marriage start to be considered incestuous in Europe?

Musical background advice

cameronfromedinburgh — Tue, 19 May 2009 07:26:25 -0800

Anyone point me towards some music that I can download and use to accompany the photographs that I'll be taking at my son's school sports day? I intend selling copies of the disc for a few pounds each to raise some money for school funds, so either copyright free or some sort of UK waiver would be essential. The music should be upbeat and appropriate for a sporting theme.

High quality royalty free music?

lemonfridge — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 01:10:50 -0800

I recently produced some high definition videos to use internally at work. They used music from the Iron Man OST - Suddenly my company wants these to go public on our website - help me find alternative music! The 2 tracks I've used are "Mark II" and "Damn Kid". I've tried a few websites that offer royalty free or stock music, but they always sound cheap and nasty. Where can I find the best quality, free or royalty free music?

How much of a news clip can I use in a commercial without paying royalties?

torpark — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 13:06:28 -0800

How much of a news clip can I use in a commercial without paying royalties? I am trying to put together a 15 or 30 seconds commercial for TV broadcast. I would like to show clips from news channels showing their headlines. I am willing to modify the clips to add shake or scanlines or something to make it a derivative work if need be.

How much of a news clip can I use without paying a royalty? Does such a limit exist? How would I find out the royalty for paying for a news clip if it is over such a limit?

Royalty-free footage

ndicecco — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 16:04:09 -0800

Where can I find royalty free footage of new year's even in times square? The times square alliance was of no help. Preferably footage that shows the countdown/ball dropping/confetti/people/etc.

Charles would never wear a foam rubber leek costume.

Lucinda — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 15:28:04 -0800

Help me remember the name of a goofy British royalty/celebrity "Battle of the Network Stars"-esque sort of thing that was on cable many, many years ago. Several years ago (definitely before 2001), on one of the cable channels, they ran what I can only describe as a "Battle of the Network Stars" with a combination of British royalty and different celebrities. There were four teams (red, yellow, green and blue), with each team headed by a member of the royal family (Fergie, Andrew, I want to say Princess Anne and Edward, maybe?). I distinctly remember that Meat Loaf was one of the participants.

They competed in silly races and tests of skill. The only one I remember in any detail was that a competitor was dressed at a cook, and was supposed to catch people in potato and leek costumes. The cook would rip the (what looked like foam rubber) costume off the potato or the leek (who would be revealed to be a member of a competing team) and throw it into a big pot.

The winning team got money donated to its charity of choice.

I really enjoyed watching it when it came out, and it seemed like it was a yearly thing, but I never heard/saw it again. Does anyone else remember this, and if so, was it a one-time thing? Is it available for purchase or rental?

Royalty fee for creating spin-offs?

Sevenupcan — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 05:15:00 -0800

What are the legal issues and requirements regarding the use of someone else's creative property/material in spin-offs, and fan related projects? This project is essentially for 3 reasons,

- For fun and enjoyment
- To give something to the fan community
- And to show how much the original creator of the universe has inspired me and many others

The designs and characters we use are our own, but they exist in the world someone else made. ie the same races/species.

How would I go about creating merchandise related to the spin-off that I am creating without violating anyone's rights, and also am likely to be able to do this without the risk of being charged; I'm presuming and daunting that I might have to pay a royalty fee.

Thank you for your time.

How much does Led Zeppelin make in radio based royalties?

asparagus_berlin — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 15:25:12 -0800

How much money does a given band (say Led Zep) make each and every time a song of theirs is played on the radio? I don't expect anyone to be privvy to the actual details of Zep's professional set-up, but does anyone have any insight as to what they (or any other staple of classic rock stations) might make every single time a song is played on any radio station in the USA - i.e., I've always imagined money continuously trickling into a Scrooge McDuck style vault.
1/10th of a penny, a penny, a nickel, five bucks? Any educated guesses?

Or perhaps they might receive a flat yearly fee for unlimited play?

Royal Rebellion?

Ufez Jones — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 22:04:58 -0800

Historically, has there been a member of Royal blood that, for either philosophical, political or religious reasons eschewed the royal lifestyle and struck out on their own? If so, is there much recorded history of why that happened, the reaction of the monarchy and the results thereof? This doesn't need to be traditional Western European royalty, although that's where I'm assuming the most likely situation would've been. Minor characters in royalty (i.e. Neices and Nephews of Dukes or Duchesses of Dork welcome). Cheers.

Not Trailer Trash

ZenMasterThis — Thu, 25 May 2006 12:22:42 -0800

Royalty-free video sources for trade shows? I have a trade show coming up in a few weeks. As part of our technology demo we want to show relatively high-quality video signals passing through our devices. I believe there may be some restictions regarding "public performance" that attach to showing a DVD movie (say). I've seen vendors at past trade shows playing movie trailers. My questions:

1) Are movie trailers shown because they are promotional devices for movies, thus deliberately exempted from "public performance" restrictions by studios?

2) Where can I get some of these trailers on DVD?

[Please note that we have already ruled-out using web cams for a video source.] Thanks!

Do inventors pay royalties for fictionally-inspired technology?

Servo5678 — Wed, 05 Apr 2006 08:01:16 -0800

If someone were to create an actual working version of fictional technology, would the inventor have to pay royalties to the owner of the original fiction? Suppose someone came up with a real working warp drive that was directly based on the technology from Star Trek (right down to the big blue warp core and glowing nacelles). Before the warp drive could be mass produced and sold would the inventor have to negotiate with the group that holds the rights to Star Trek to work out a royalty payment?

This question doesn't pertain exactly to Star Trek, so feel free to come up with your own example if you like. We could be talking about stargates, lightsabers, or sonic screwdrivers if you want.

Photo royalty rate?

Il Furioso — Fri, 15 Apr 2005 09:03:17 -0800

What is a fair percentage to charge for royalties for the use of my photographs? One or more of my photographs is going to be used by a small, new independent business, on t-shirts, tote bags, etc. I've been told that between .5% to 3% is standard, but I have no way of knowing the accuracy of this. It's in North Carolina, if the state matters.

Free sound effects

too many notes — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 08:08:03 -0800

Are there any good sources for free sound effects? Preferably free in terms of both purchase and royalty costs.

Curtsy for the Queen?

Asparagirl — Tue, 01 Mar 2005 15:01:07 -0800

What is the proper etiquette/protocol for Americans greeting or addressing non-American people of title? Does one say "Her Majesty" or "Your Highness" or "Lady So-and-So" or other formalities, if one comes from a country with egalitarian and anti-monarchist roots and beliefs, where the non-recognition of titles is even a part of the Constitution? How about the whole curtsying thing? Where is the line commonly drawn between being polite to someone and being true to personal and national values? I suspect that Americans will more likely use "Elton John" than "Sir Elton John", especially in print media. But what about the frequency with which we refer to "Lord Black" over "Conrad Black" or even "Mr. Black"? Or (incorrectly) calling her "Princess Diana"? We seem to be full of contradictions.

Furthermore, what do American presidents do when meeting a member of a royal family? Are they more solicitous when meeting a British royal, because of our "special relationship" with Great Britain, or do they take care to be more perfunct, because our existence as a nation is based on denial of their "Divine Right of Kings"?

(This question was inspired by the upcoming Charles and Camilla nuptials and their accompanying will-she-be-Queen hoo-ha, which made me curious. I have absolutely no contact with any royalty or peerage, and probably never will outside of 19th and early 20th century British novels.)

What is the origin of the word 'Your' (as in 'Your Majesty' 'Your Honor', etc)

Saucy Intruder — Thu, 13 Jan 2005 14:37:53 -0800

PersonalPronounFilter: What's the origin of the word "Your" in "Your Honor," "Your Majesty," and "Your Excellency" (among many others)? Why not "My Majesty" or "The Majesty?" Isn't the Queen supposed to be the source of my majesty? She sure as hell doesn't get any additional majesty from me.

How to oust an unelected head of state?

Orange Goblin — Fri, 19 Nov 2004 02:59:34 -0800

If I lived in a country (mentioning no names, because I'm not sure if it is treason...) that had an unelected head of state, and whos position was based on the family they were born into, how would I go about getting rid of them, in any way other than the obvious one? I'm thinking some kind of political campaign, etc.