How to do copyright (for streaming performances)?
April 27, 2020 8:04 AM Subscribe
Can anyone point me towards a good guide for how to copyright-clear music, literary work (e.g. poems and/or book chapters read aloud) and still images for streaming concerts? My chorus has nice archival recordings of a few of our past concerts that we'd like to stream. I've done copyright clearance for printed material and CDs before, but that was a while ago and I know nothing about the rules around a one-time streaming event.
I suspect most groups are going the "just slap it up there and take it down if anyone complains" route, and I'm not inherently opposed to that, but probably only half the chorus Board would agree with me so it would be good to have some best-practices guides to back me up. I'm familiar with Harry Fox and the Copyright Clearance Center but I don't know how Harry Fox works for streaming (there's a link, but it's broken) and I don't know whether CCC works for non-print works or how you use it outside of academia.
Here's what the most-troublesome concert includes, if we were to stream it as originally conceived:
- Performances of under-copyright choral pieces (if I recall correctly we should be able to get permission for this from the publishers, though I have no idea how long it would take or how much it would cost)
- Performances of choral arrangements of under-copyright popular songs (publisher of arrangement? Harry Fox?)
- Images of under-copyright musical scores (this seems fraught with peril and probably easier to just edit around)
- Stock images/video (presumably easy enough)
- Images/video from chorus members (also should be easy)
- Illustrations from under-copyright books (I seem to remember this always being a disaster for course packs, etc.)
- An under-copyright book chapter read aloud (current copyright-holder: Disney, oof)
- A few more short readings, probably some under copyright, others not
I would anticipate we would have no more than 2000 streams of the concert (at the absolute most, more probably in the hundreds). We're a high-quality but amateur chorus and we perform with a variety of other professional and volunteer musicians and organizations.
I suspect most groups are going the "just slap it up there and take it down if anyone complains" route, and I'm not inherently opposed to that, but probably only half the chorus Board would agree with me so it would be good to have some best-practices guides to back me up. I'm familiar with Harry Fox and the Copyright Clearance Center but I don't know how Harry Fox works for streaming (there's a link, but it's broken) and I don't know whether CCC works for non-print works or how you use it outside of academia.
Here's what the most-troublesome concert includes, if we were to stream it as originally conceived:
- Performances of under-copyright choral pieces (if I recall correctly we should be able to get permission for this from the publishers, though I have no idea how long it would take or how much it would cost)
- Performances of choral arrangements of under-copyright popular songs (publisher of arrangement? Harry Fox?)
- Images of under-copyright musical scores (this seems fraught with peril and probably easier to just edit around)
- Stock images/video (presumably easy enough)
- Images/video from chorus members (also should be easy)
- Illustrations from under-copyright books (I seem to remember this always being a disaster for course packs, etc.)
- An under-copyright book chapter read aloud (current copyright-holder: Disney, oof)
- A few more short readings, probably some under copyright, others not
I would anticipate we would have no more than 2000 streams of the concert (at the absolute most, more probably in the hundreds). We're a high-quality but amateur chorus and we perform with a variety of other professional and volunteer musicians and organizations.
Response by poster: Of course I should have said this up front, but unfortunately hiring an IP lawyer would be much too expensive for this project - our options are either "don't do this at all" or "do our best and hope for the best."
I know that we are supposed to observe the same laws as usual under copyright, just not clear on how to obtain the appropriate licenses and clearances (I understand how to obtain licenses for CDs and downloads).
I am specifically *not* looking for anything to do with licensing other people's recordings, which is what the first link soundguy99 posted seem to be referring to - all the music in the concert is original performances by the chorus and affiliated musicians.
posted by mskyle at 10:12 AM on April 27, 2020
I know that we are supposed to observe the same laws as usual under copyright, just not clear on how to obtain the appropriate licenses and clearances (I understand how to obtain licenses for CDs and downloads).
I am specifically *not* looking for anything to do with licensing other people's recordings, which is what the first link soundguy99 posted seem to be referring to - all the music in the concert is original performances by the chorus and affiliated musicians.
posted by mskyle at 10:12 AM on April 27, 2020
I think it's smart to get copyright clearance because some copyright holders do go after groups and individuals, even those who do things on a small scale. This website looks helpful. I think you want ASCAP?
What you are talking about are public performances. Did you get copyright permission for the music you used in your performances? Did you charge a fee? Those things are relevant. I think ASCAP can help with this.
(I'm a bit confused by your follow up. In your original question, you ask about performances of music under copyright, but in your follow up, you seem to suggest you only performed music that was written by folks affiliated with your chorus.)
posted by bluedaisy at 11:41 AM on April 27, 2020
What you are talking about are public performances. Did you get copyright permission for the music you used in your performances? Did you charge a fee? Those things are relevant. I think ASCAP can help with this.
(I'm a bit confused by your follow up. In your original question, you ask about performances of music under copyright, but in your follow up, you seem to suggest you only performed music that was written by folks affiliated with your chorus.)
posted by bluedaisy at 11:41 AM on April 27, 2020
Given your "do our best and hope for the best" update, I would say concentrate everything on clearing this with Disney. They are the source most likely to both 1) flat out say no (or say yes only for rates you can't afford) and 2) sue you if they discover you did this without proper permissions.
Conveniently enough, they have a simple place to request permission here.
posted by nobeagle at 12:36 PM on April 27, 2020 [1 favorite]
Conveniently enough, they have a simple place to request permission here.
posted by nobeagle at 12:36 PM on April 27, 2020 [1 favorite]
I work in the music rights industry (in another country though I know US copyright societies) but I'm a little confused about your question. Are you streaming actual live performances or recordings of live performances? They are two different things. Do you own the rights to your original performances?
Just to go back on what someone said above, ASCAP is actually for the songwriting aspect as is BMI. The rights for this will be held by the songwriters and the publisher. These are the only rights you need to obtain if your performances are your own but if the lyrics and music are not. Contact their licensing departments asap.
For sound recordings you want SOUNDEXCHANGE or AFM-AFTRA. The recording rights holder here is the body who gets the money not the publisher. I'm trying to understand whether your performance is an actual video or sound recording that has an ISRC and a copyright/rights holder. That's because here as you are the performer you wouldn't need any licence from a performing rights society to broadcast your own performances as long as you own the rights... which you know but... you could actually be claiming performance rights from the broadcaster as some societies pay out on streams now.
If it looks like a lot of people may stream your work I would suggest joining AFM AFTRA ("The Fund") to collect your performance pennies. They do a good job of that. As someone who has had to painstakingly review and then reject their performance claims I'd also suggest having a website with every members full name and years of "service". Please. Not enough choirs do this.
Not sure if any of that makes sense. Let me know if it doesn't and if you want further info.
Edit - forgot to check but are you actually in the United States?
posted by ihaveyourfoot at 2:12 PM on April 27, 2020 [1 favorite]
Just to go back on what someone said above, ASCAP is actually for the songwriting aspect as is BMI. The rights for this will be held by the songwriters and the publisher. These are the only rights you need to obtain if your performances are your own but if the lyrics and music are not. Contact their licensing departments asap.
For sound recordings you want SOUNDEXCHANGE or AFM-AFTRA. The recording rights holder here is the body who gets the money not the publisher. I'm trying to understand whether your performance is an actual video or sound recording that has an ISRC and a copyright/rights holder. That's because here as you are the performer you wouldn't need any licence from a performing rights society to broadcast your own performances as long as you own the rights... which you know but... you could actually be claiming performance rights from the broadcaster as some societies pay out on streams now.
If it looks like a lot of people may stream your work I would suggest joining AFM AFTRA ("The Fund") to collect your performance pennies. They do a good job of that. As someone who has had to painstakingly review and then reject their performance claims I'd also suggest having a website with every members full name and years of "service". Please. Not enough choirs do this.
Not sure if any of that makes sense. Let me know if it doesn't and if you want further info.
Edit - forgot to check but are you actually in the United States?
posted by ihaveyourfoot at 2:12 PM on April 27, 2020 [1 favorite]
There’s guidelines and a contact here for Disney press (the guidelines are specifically for teachers/librarians but it says others can contact the same person):
“Please note that other organizations interested in posting videos of your Disney Press title reading will need to contact Dina.Sherman@Disney.com who will evaluate their request.”
posted by songs about trains at 3:15 PM on April 27, 2020
“Please note that other organizations interested in posting videos of your Disney Press title reading will need to contact Dina.Sherman@Disney.com who will evaluate their request.”
posted by songs about trains at 3:15 PM on April 27, 2020
This thread is closed to new comments.
Honestly, you're covering such a wide variety of materials that I would really think that a consultation with an IP lawyer would be the best route to go, as there could be all sorts of complicating factors. (Just as one example, licensing for audio-only performances of copyright materials is different from licensing for audio synchronized with video content (sync license.))
posted by soundguy99 at 8:50 AM on April 27, 2020