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Copyrighted Music

Brand Usage and Product Placement
I have a question about product logos, copyrights. We are making a movie that will be shot in an actual deli that house many household food/ products (ex. Coca-Cola, Land O'Lakes butter, Friskies cat Food, so on........so on).

My question is can we shoot our story with these products visible in the background. The story will not put these products in a bad light. Matter of fact it is a deli where these products sell.

Can we shoot without focusing ion these labels or do we have turn the products away.
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Contributed by Glen Berry

I had a few questions about using copyrighted music. Is it necessary to clear all music if an extreamly low budget video maker to run on cable access or video festivals? If so how do I go about this? I'm still on the very low end of the budget spectrum. My budgets are usually around 100 dollars and I edit on my computer (Adobe Premiere), so would someone like me be required to pay royalities? I'm really interested in showing some of my movies to a larger audience, but I've always been paranoid about the music thing. And anytime I've asked around I usually get vague answers concerneing the subject. I would appreciate any help you could give me.

The reason you're getting vague answers is because it is a legal question and there is no solid answer. That is why lawyers get paid big money to argue about things like this. This shouldn't be mistaken as legal advice but rather advice from one film maker to another.

I think the biggest question you have to ask yourself is "Who is going to stop me?". If you use copyrighted music without permission, you are risking a lawsuit. Every low budget film maker lives with this paranoia. However, if you're showing on cable access or small festivals, who is going to know or care? Even if they did, are they going to invest money into a lawsuit coming after you if you don't have money in the first place? They might but it is unlikely.

Would you be required to pay royalties? The amount of money they would make in royalties from you isn't worth the time for them to do the paperwork on the invoices. You can request permission to use the music and the record company might grant it for free. It's really not that difficult and it's been known to work, even for popular songs provided that your work is not for profit (at the level you're talking about, it is non profit). We have a request form we can dig up for you if you're interested, we just haven't had a chance to put it on the site.

If you use copyrighted music you are taking a risk. If your films progress upwards in budget or potential I would seriously consider alternatives such as using royalty free music (hard to find anything usable) make your own or start dating a composer.

Berry is the founder of the Northwest Film School and the creator of Film Underground, a popular and successful network of Moviemaking web sites that includes Cyber Film School.

A former member of the Whatcom Film Association Board of Directors, he also has twice served as the director of the Northwest Projections Film Festival. An award-winning filmmaker, Berry specializes in post production and is currently employed as an editor and post production supervisor on professional independent productions. Berry has written for “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Filmmaking,” “MovieMaker Magazine,” Cyberfilmschool.com and Filmfestivals.com. He also has served as an expert source for international newspaper and radio media outlets.

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