RE: music copyright and fair use

From: Michael Graham <mgraham[_at_]marshallip.com>
Date: Mon, 23 Oct 2006 17:05:00 -0400

Jud:

Quick, unsatisfactory answer for you (and not a legal opinion, but one based on my readings): Photos, sounds, speeches from the game are probably fine to use -- although Best Practices would require that you obtain releases from anyone particularly focused upon -- like the coach and his speech (in which he does own copyright).

The use of prerecorded music as part of a soundtrack, however, cannot fit within any type of news or journalistic exception. Especially if you are posting the video on the website, you should obtain both a performance license (ASACAP/BMI/etc.) and a mechanical license (Harry Fox and ?). Because of the nature of the use, the cost may be minimal -- but you do need to obtain permission for such use.

Michael R. Graham

-----Original Message-----
From: CNI-COPYRIGHT -- Copyright & Intellectual Property [mailto:CNI-COPYRIGHT[_at_]cni.org] On Behalf Of Jud Burkett Sent: Monday, October 23, 2006 2:01 PM
To: CNI-COPYRIGHT -- Copyright & Intellectual Property Subject: [CNI-(C)] music copyright and fair use

I'm looking for a little help with a copyright issue.

I'm the photo editor
 at a newspaper in southern Utah. One of our local high school girl's soccer teams won a state championship on Saturday.

I'd like to put together a slide show of photos from the game, celebration, and the like.

I've got audio that I recorded during the game, the girls cheering, the coach giving them pep talks, the captains of the teams saying all kinds of inspirational things and some quotes from after the game.

I'd also like to use "We are the Champions" by Queen (I know it's a bit of a cliché but they are in fact the champions) as background music under the audio that I recorded.

The slideshow would be published on our website.

Since it's used in the context of journalism does this fit into fair use? What kind of guidelines are there for this sort of use if it is at all permissable?

Jud

"Photography isn't a matter of taking pictures. It's a matter of having an eye." - Walker Evans

Jud Burkett
Photo Editor
The Spectrum
275 E. St. George Blvd.
St. George, UT 84790
web site: www.thespectrum.com
e-mail: jburkett[_at_]thespectrum.com

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Received on Tue Oct 24 2006 - 01:05:00 GMT