Auckland Movie Makers

Copyright Myths Blown Away

So, are you breaking the law? I'm sure many of us who attended April's meeting came away a little concerned. Copyright law is a minefield. Jo Cleary from APRA and Jacque Kendall from RIANZ certainly spelt it out for us. In a nutshell, we cannot copy anything on to our videos unless we have a Special Events Licence which allows a limited number of copies to be made, of a limited number of productions, in a non broadcast situation.

For a one-off production, you may be allowed to use copyright material but you have to make a request to APRA and RIANZ beforehand and a fee will be set at their discretion. The fact that you own the CD and make no money from your production is immaterial. You are still not allowed to use the music to back your video. Songs do not become available until 50 years after the death of the author but even then, some songs are bought up, only to have their copyright extended for a further period.

If you record an outdoor “happening" and inadvertently capture music being played on someone's car stereo you are breaking copyright law if you show the footage at the club. If you create a pastiche, you may still be in breach of copyright law. The irony of all this is that the APRA that we deal with here in NZ is a branch of the Australian APRA. In Australia, if you are a member of a video club, a nominal part of the membership fee goes to pay for an APRA licence. This allows you to back your videos with copyrighted material and you can show your videos in a club situation without the fear of prosecution.

With this in mind, I feel the time has come for the clubs of NZ to have a similar facility. Over the next few months, I plan to gather information with view to putting together a submission on behalf of all the clubs of NZ. I'm sure most of us would prefer to pay a regular levy than have the fear of prosecution. And by the way, spare a thought for the guy that made a single recording, some years back. You've bought your Special Events Licence, you've used his music to back your masterpiece but do you have to notify the copyright authorities so that he can be rewarded for his creativity? No. The money goes into a fund and it is divided out between the "big boys".

In conclusion, I would like to give a big thank you to Jo and Jacque for coming along to our meeting and answering all our questions.

Check out the following web sites for some help with Royalty Free Music:

• http://www.freeplaymusic.com/

• http://www.2b-royaltyfree.com/

• http://site.magix.net/index.php?id=234
• http://www.smartsound.com/music/

• http://www.q-music.co.uk

• Flying Hands

• http://www.gmpmusic.com/home.php

• http://www.freshmusic.com/

• http://www.selectracks.com/index.cfm

• http://www.royalty-free.tv

• http://www.sounddogs.com