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Music: Media Licensing
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MCPS Media Licensing is your main point of contact for all music clearance advice concerning a range of audio visual and creative use. The general guide includes the basics of music copyright, the different music types available and how to obtain music licenses.
The basics of music copyright
When proposing to use music in any type of audiovisual production it is helpful to have a basic understanding of music copyright. Copyright is the right granted by law to the creators of original literary, dramatic, artistic and musical works to ensure that copyright owners are rewarded for the exploitation of their works.
Copyright applies to music in three main areas:
A Musical work The copyright in a musical work, including any lyrics, belongs to the songwriter or composer who wrote the work. It is often assigned to, or exclusively licensed or administered by a music publisher. The copyright period varies but in most cases it will expire seventy years after the year of the death of the composer or last surviving co-writer.
A Sound recording The copyright in a sound recording belongs to the person who made the recording. This is usually deemed to be the record company, which holds a contract with the artist performing on the recording, or the artist itself. This copyright expires fifty years after the year in which the recording was first exploited.
A Performance The rights to an artist’s performance belong to that performer or to a party they may have sold or assigned this right to. This right applies to all types of performance including a performance in a studio for recording purposes. Rights in most artists’ performances on record are dealt with by the record company who own that recording, but there are circumstances when a performers' rights must be addressed separately. As soon as an original piece of music is written or recorded, copyright protection begins. Among other things, this means that the writer (or his/her publisher if they have one) has the right to determine who can make recordings, or copy previously made recordings, of his/her work, and under what terms.
Restricted acts
The Copyright Design and Patents Act (1988) gives the owners of these copyrights the exclusive right to carry out the following "restricted acts" with their property:
| a |
To copy the work — i.e. to make CDs, cassettes, vinyl, audio-visual synchronisations, musical chips etc. |
| b |
To issue copies of the work to the public — i.e. to distribute or sell CDs, videos, musical toys etc. |
| c |
To perform, show or play the work in public — i.e. playing recorded music in public, live performances, DJs, background music, the exhibition of films or corporate videos containing music etc. |
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To communicate the work to the public — i.e. to transmit copyright music on radio, television, cable, satellite and the Internet. |
| e |
To adapt the work or do any of the above in relation to an adaptation — i.e. to rearrange the music, to translate the lyrics etc. |
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To rent or lend sound carriers to the public. Any person who does, or authorises another to do, any of these acts without consent from the copyright owner infringes copyright. Copyright owners are rewarded by collecting income, for example by licensing others to carry out “restricted acts”. If anybody wishes to carry out any of the restricted acts, they have to seek permission from the copyright owner. |
Producers of audio-visual material generally need to license the right to copy and issue copies only. The rights to 'broadcast' or 'perform in public' are almost always obtained from PRS or the relevant performing right society by broadcasters, exhibitors and the owners of venues.
Collecting societies (MCPS)
Licensing music in general would be an extremely complicated procedure if the music user had to find out whom and where the owner is, and then negotiate permission to use the music and obtain the necessary mechanical licence on an individual work-by-work basis. However, most music copyright holders have grouped together and formed collective organisations that can license their music and collect and distribute the subsequent royalties. By choosing MCPS in this way, copyright owners have ensured that music users can get most of the mechanical licences they need from one single source.
Planning to use music
When planning to use music in any of your creative projects, you are not automatically entitled to a licence and therefore must ensure all the required clearances have been obtained BEFORE you make any recordings or use your production in any way.
Inadvertently using music without the necessary licence could also expose your clients to any possible claims arising from copyright infringement. Thankfully, obtaining a licence is easy. MCPS has a specialist team of Music Licensing Consultants who provide a userfriendly service to guide producers through the process of clearing music. This includes offering support on the licensing of publishing and some sound recording rights for the extensive range of music available for creative use. Not just the commercially well-known, but also the broad range of production music offered by over 80 professional production music libraries throughout the UK.
Production music and its advantages
Production music (or library music) is music specifically written for inclusion in audio and audiovisual productions, such as advertisements, broadcast programmes, film and video productions. It is available on compact disc and online, for convenient, highquality and cost-effective synchronisation or dubbing into such productions. Some advantages of using production music are:
| a |
It is composed specifically for use with audiovisual productions and is available in a variety of moods and lengths to meet the needs of any creative production. |
| b |
There are no pre-clearance formalities involved in its use. |
| c |
Licences issued by MCPS cover the right to reproduce the musical work, sound recording and artist performance – all the rights normally required by a production company. |
| d |
Information on the range and type of production music can be obtained directly from the libraries – their experienced staff offer an intimate knowledge of the music available. |
| e |
Libraries will provide copies of recordings for use in any particular production. |
| f |
It is licensed according to the rates published in the MCPS rate card – enabling you to budget accurately. |
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Obtaining a licence is a simple process involving only a minimum of administrative involvement by the user to ensure the required licence is issued and the correct fees are paid. |
Reproduced with kind permission from MCPS. For more information please visit: www.mcps-prs-alliance.co.uk
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