Legal Question in Entertainment Law in New York
Music licensing for movie
Hello, I have licensed music from an artist in Australia to be used in a movie which I am producing.He is the author of the music.My question is this.
All of the songs that he sings has his group as backup.
Although I have secured a licensing contract with the author, do I have to get the groups permission also because they either play or sing in the background?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Music licensing for movie
It would depend on the nature of the artist's relationship with the backup group and your agreement with the artist. The agreement must also cover publishing rights. If you'd like a free consult, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Re: Music licensing for movie
Not sure what "license" you have obtained but it must be both a "synchronization" license for the underlying work/song (normally obtainable from the artist's publisher) and "master use" license for the actual recording of the work/song (normally obtainable from the record company that released the recording) if you intend to use the music in a film. The author of a song may not have the rights to grant to you if he/she signed them away to a publisher/recording company. If the author still has all the rights in the work/song, then the question becomes whether he/she also owns the rights to a recording and what his/her relationship to the band who played on the record. If there is no contract, releases may have to be obtained from the other musicians to make sure they claim no rights in the recording if you want to be able to obtain full rights to use the recording.
Contact an entertainment attorney to figure out if you have the rights to use this music before you proceed.
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