I received an email from a film producer (based in Los Angeles, probably
an indie studio) in which he wrote that the director of a movie they're
just finishing (they're at post-production stage) is interested in using
two tracks of mine, 'Balloon' (http://www.cesaremarilungo.com/media) and
'As we grow older' (http://www.cesaremarilungo.com/media/the-moon-ep).

I released these tracks under a non-commercial Creative Commons license:

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/deed-music.

In the past some of my music has been used for some short films, but
these were clearly non commercial projects or film schools thesis.

Has anybody some experience on this topic? What should I do? Should I
re-license these tracks? Can I just make them a written permission? Or
should I ask for some kind of royalty (or would it be ridiculous, also
considering that AFAIK Gyorgy Ligeti has never been paid for its music
on '2001 A space odyssey' :-) )?

Thanks in advance,

- c.

-- 
www.cesaremarilungo.com

My personal feeling is that if everyone else associated with the movie 
will most likely be paid you should too. As for what you can do 
regarding the license, I'm not really sure, can you change the license?

Rory.


Cesare Marilungo wrote:
> I received an email from a film producer (based in Los Angeles, probably
> an indie studio) in which he wrote that the director of a movie they're
> just finishing (they're at post-production stage) is interested in using
> two tracks of mine, 'Balloon' (http://www.cesaremarilungo.com/media) and
> 'As we grow older' (http://www.cesaremarilungo.com/media/the-moon-ep).
> 
> I released these tracks under a non-commercial Creative Commons license:
> 
> http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/deed-music.
> 
> In the past some of my music has been used for some short films, but
> these were clearly non commercial projects or film schools thesis.
> 
> Has anybody some experience on this topic? What should I do? Should I
> re-license these tracks? Can I just make them a written permission? Or
> should I ask for some kind of royalty (or would it be ridiculous, also
> considering that AFAIK Gyorgy Ligeti has never been paid for its music
> on '2001 A space odyssey' :-) )?
> 
> Thanks in advance,
> 
> - c.
> 

I guess I can change the license to a less restrictive one, and not the 
other way around.

-c.

Rory Walsh wrote:
> My personal feeling is that if everyone else associated with the movie 
> will most likely be paid you should too. As for what you can do 
> regarding the license, I'm not really sure, can you change the license?
>
> Rory.
>
>
> Cesare Marilungo wrote:
>> I received an email from a film producer (based in Los Angeles, probably
>> an indie studio) in which he wrote that the director of a movie they're
>> just finishing (they're at post-production stage) is interested in using
>> two tracks of mine, 'Balloon' (http://www.cesaremarilungo.com/media) and
>> 'As we grow older' (http://www.cesaremarilungo.com/media/the-moon-ep).
>>
>> I released these tracks under a non-commercial Creative Commons license:
>>
>> http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/deed-music.
>>
>> In the past some of my music has been used for some short films, but
>> these were clearly non commercial projects or film schools thesis.
>>
>> Has anybody some experience on this topic? What should I do? Should I
>> re-license these tracks? Can I just make them a written permission? Or
>> should I ask for some kind of royalty (or would it be ridiculous, also
>> considering that AFAIK Gyorgy Ligeti has never been paid for its music
>> on '2001 A space odyssey' :-) )?
>>
>> Thanks in advance,
>>
>> - c.
>>
>
>
> Send bugs reports to this list.
> To unsubscribe, send email sympa@lists.bath.ac.uk with body 
> "unsubscribe csound"
>
>


-- 
www.cesaremarilungo.com 

Ok, there are some gaps in my knowledge here, but licenses are per-recording and also 
per-song.  The film company would need rights to the recording.  Cesare should 
definitely consider joining a performing rights association (ASCAP, BMI, or Sesac) 
and register the works with them.  You don't need to ask for royalties, the 
performing rights agency collects them and sends money to the composer and publisher. 
  Usually, though, you will ask for a one-time payment in exchange for giving them a 
license to use your work.  Sometimes you can get a deal that pays extra beyond the 
statutory royalties, but I don't know how likely that is with an indie studio. 
Ligeti is a special case

If Cesare is the original copyright holder (which is most likely, given that he's the 
composer, unless they were done as a work-for-hire), he can just relicense the pieces 
under a commercial license for this film.  The creative commons license doesn't allow 
commercial use, so the film company would need a different license.  There's no 
reason why he can't have separate licenses on the work, a non-commercial CC and a 
commercial license as well.

You should definitely contact a lawyer experienced in the music business to review 
contracts, etc.  I know someone based in Austin, TX, but unless you live around here 
that probably isn't very convenient.
Cheers,
John

John W. Lato
School of Music
The University of Texas at Austin
1 University Station E3100
Austin, TX 78712-0435
(512) 232-2090

Aidan Collins wrote:
> How specific is a license? is it per recording?
> you could always do a 'new' recording of it which could have a
> different license right?
> 
> On Jan 24, 2008 9:33 AM, Rory Walsh  wrote:
>> My personal feeling is that if everyone else associated with the movie
>> will most likely be paid you should too. As for what you can do
>> regarding the license, I'm not really sure, can you change the license?
>>
>> Rory.
>>
>>
>> Cesare Marilungo wrote:
>>> I received an email from a film producer (based in Los Angeles, probably
>>> an indie studio) in which he wrote that the director of a movie they're
>>> just finishing (they're at post-production stage) is interested in using
>>> two tracks of mine, 'Balloon' (http://www.cesaremarilungo.com/media) and
>>> 'As we grow older' (http://www.cesaremarilungo.com/media/the-moon-ep).
>>>
>>> I released these tracks under a non-commercial Creative Commons license:
>>>
>>> http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/deed-music.
>>>
>>> In the past some of my music has been used for some short films, but
>>> these were clearly non commercial projects or film schools thesis.
>>>
>>> Has anybody some experience on this topic? What should I do? Should I
>>> re-license these tracks? Can I just make them a written permission? Or
>>> should I ask for some kind of royalty (or would it be ridiculous, also
>>> considering that AFAIK Gyorgy Ligeti has never been paid for its music
>>> on '2001 A space odyssey' :-) )?
>>>
>>> Thanks in advance,
>>>
>>> - c.
>>>
>>
>>
>> Send bugs reports to this list.
>> To unsubscribe, send email sympa@lists.bath.ac.uk with body "unsubscribe csound"
>>
> 
> 
> Send bugs reports to this list.
> To unsubscribe, send email sympa@lists.bath.ac.uk with body "unsubscribe csound"

Thank you all for all the suggestions so far.

The problem is that I don't really know where to start, and they told me 
that they don't have much time.

Also, according to my website logs, they discovered my music on 
opsound.org which is a website that host exclusively Creative Commons 
(or other kind of Copyleft) licensed music. So, probably, they were 
looking for royalty-free music. I fear they would rather look somewhere 
else than deal with my concerns and, as an artist, I would love to have 
my music listened by more people.

- c.

John Lato wrote:
> Ok, there are some gaps in my knowledge here, but licenses are 
> per-recording and also per-song.  The film company would need rights 
> to the recording.  Cesare should definitely consider joining a 
> performing rights association (ASCAP, BMI, or Sesac) and register the 
> works with them.  You don't need to ask for royalties, the performing 
> rights agency collects them and sends money to the composer and 
> publisher.  Usually, though, you will ask for a one-time payment in 
> exchange for giving them a license to use your work.  Sometimes you 
> can get a deal that pays extra beyond the statutory royalties, but I 
> don't know how likely that is with an indie studio. Ligeti is a 
> special case
>
> If Cesare is the original copyright holder (which is most likely, 
> given that he's the composer, unless they were done as a 
> work-for-hire), he can just relicense the pieces under a commercial 
> license for this film.  The creative commons license doesn't allow 
> commercial use, so the film company would need a different license.  
> There's no reason why he can't have separate licenses on the work, a 
> non-commercial CC and a commercial license as well.
>
> You should definitely contact a lawyer experienced in the music 
> business to review contracts, etc.  I know someone based in Austin, 
> TX, but unless you live around here that probably isn't very convenient.
> Cheers,
> John
>
> John W. Lato
> School of Music
> The University of Texas at Austin
> 1 University Station E3100
> Austin, TX 78712-0435
> (512) 232-2090
>
> Aidan Collins wrote:
>> How specific is a license? is it per recording?
>> you could always do a 'new' recording of it which could have a
>> different license right?
>>
>> On Jan 24, 2008 9:33 AM, Rory Walsh  wrote:
>>> My personal feeling is that if everyone else associated with the movie
>>> will most likely be paid you should too. As for what you can do
>>> regarding the license, I'm not really sure, can you change the license?
>>>
>>> Rory.
>>>
>>>
>>> Cesare Marilungo wrote:
>>>> I received an email from a film producer (based in Los Angeles, 
>>>> probably
>>>> an indie studio) in which he wrote that the director of a movie 
>>>> they're
>>>> just finishing (they're at post-production stage) is interested in 
>>>> using
>>>> two tracks of mine, 'Balloon' 
>>>> (http://www.cesaremarilungo.com/media) and
>>>> 'As we grow older' (http://www.cesaremarilungo.com/media/the-moon-ep).
>>>>
>>>> I released these tracks under a non-commercial Creative Commons 
>>>> license:
>>>>
>>>> http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/deed-music.
>>>>
>>>> In the past some of my music has been used for some short films, but
>>>> these were clearly non commercial projects or film schools thesis.
>>>>
>>>> Has anybody some experience on this topic? What should I do? Should I
>>>> re-license these tracks? Can I just make them a written permission? Or
>>>> should I ask for some kind of royalty (or would it be ridiculous, also
>>>> considering that AFAIK Gyorgy Ligeti has never been paid for its music
>>>> on '2001 A space odyssey' :-) )?
>>>>
>>>> Thanks in advance,
>>>>
>>>> - c.
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Send bugs reports to this list.
>>> To unsubscribe, send email sympa@lists.bath.ac.uk with body 
>>> "unsubscribe csound"
>>>
>>
>>
>> Send bugs reports to this list.
>> To unsubscribe, send email sympa@lists.bath.ac.uk with body 
>> "unsubscribe csound"
>
>
> Send bugs reports to this list.
> To unsubscribe, send email sympa@lists.bath.ac.uk with body 
> "unsubscribe csound"
>
>


-- 
www.cesaremarilungo.com 

You might want to look at the information on howstuffworks about rights and 
royalties, http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/music-royalties5.htm.  You 
certainly could give them the rights to use your music for no payment at all, or you 
could ask for a one-time payment.  Since you say they're looking for a reply quickly, 
just contact them, let them know you're favorable and make an offer (free, or enough 
money to cover attorney's fees for you).  After you come to terms, you can either 
have them send you a license agreement, or you could draft one yourself.  Either way, 
you should definitely get a lawyer to check the agreement.

In your situation, I wouldn't ask for royalties from the studio, but there is a 
chance you may collect royalties should the work ever be shown on television, or some 
foreign venues, which is why you should be sure to register the music with a 
performer's rights organization.  In this case, the studio will be getting royalties 
as well; you'd both be paid (indirectly) by the television network or foreign venue.
Cheers,
John

John W. Lato
School of Music
The University of Texas at Austin
1 University Station E3100
Austin, TX 78712-0435
(512) 232-2090

Cesare Marilungo wrote:
> Also, according to my website logs, they discovered my music on 
> opsound.org which is a website that host exclusively Creative Commons 
> (or other kind of Copyleft) licensed music. So, probably, they were 
> looking for royalty-free music. I fear they would rather look somewhere 
> else than deal with my concerns and, as an artist, I would love to have 
> my music listened by more people.
> 
> - c.

First, congratulations!

I hope everyone else has made it clear that you can continue to publish your
music on your web site under the CC-nc license and have a separate agreement
for the film.

I suggest though that you start by asking some questions:  Where and how
often will this film be shown?  Will money be charged for admission?  Will
it be released and sold on DVD?  What is the total budget for the film?  Are
they expecting to pay a licensing fee or royalties?

Having more information will empower you to better negotiate a fair
agreement.  Even if they are just looking to exploit your music for free and
for their own commercial gain, you can always decide that the exposure is
worth letting them use the music for free.  (But in this case, I would make
it very clear that such permission only applies to those specific tracks,
for this particular film ...)

Just my two cents ...

Anthony Kozar
mailing-lists-1001 AT anthonykozar DOT net
http://anthonykozar.net/


Cesare Marilungo wrote on 1/24/08 10:50 AM:

> Thank you all for all the suggestions so far.
> 
> The problem is that I don't really know where to start, and they told me
> that they don't have much time.
> 
> Also, according to my website logs, they discovered my music on
> opsound.org which is a website that host exclusively Creative Commons
> (or other kind of Copyleft) licensed music. So, probably, they were
> looking for royalty-free music. I fear they would rather look somewhere
> else than deal with my concerns and, as an artist, I would love to have
> my music listened by more people.