Copyright costs

[perc2100]

I would guess the respective skating federations secure permission...don't know about mechanical or synch rights, tho...the music, while certainly audible during a TV broadcast, is not the "product" being sold....the rights issues might be a little different than in corps.

That and with TV revenue, I imagine. When you have more people watching your sporting event than any other prime time broadcast the entire year (minus the Super Bowl), then add revenue is high and the Olympic committee can probably get broadcasting fees to help defray cost.

[Kyle B]

If I remember correctly from college, when you purchase a CD or DVD, you can watch or listen to it however you want in private, but you can not use it for public performances, at least for CD as most say that somewhere on the label.

[perc2100]

I will be the first to admit that I am far from an expert on this subject; but to use your logic, any time I play any CD I have purchased, I would have to pay a fee. If I purchased the CD, the artist that recorded the CD would be responsible for securing the rights-like all the DCI CD's I have accumulated over the years. Are royalites not paid on sales of the recorded music? Therefore, by purchasing the music that is being used by the skaters, in my opinion the composer has already received their due. I work in corporate accounting, and my former employer sold a certain technoogy to another company. The royalty contract stipulated an annual payment, plus a percentage of sales of products produced using that technology. Once that was satisfied, the end purchaser of the products were not restricted as to how or where the products they purchased were used-we had received our payment for the use of the technology. I paid for a wedding a little over a year ago, and there was some music requested that the DJ didn't have already and had to buy. There was never any mention of needing to secure rights or pay copyright fees. Just my take on this. Maybe this is why a lot of skaters use older, classical music-it may be in the public domain and not subject to all of this nonsense.

Anytime music is broadcast for a public event that is making a profit (television that receives add revenue, bars that make money off of drinks/food, etc), licensing fees need to be paid.

[SkyDog]

Therefore, by purchasing the music [a CD] that is being used by the skaters, in my opinion the composer has already received their due.

When you purchased the CD, you purchased the right to listen to it privately. If the music is to be played in a public venue, broadcast, redistributed, re-arranged, etc., additional licensing is required.

I paid for a wedding a little over a year ago, and there was some music requested that the DJ didn't have already and had to buy. There was never any mention of needing to secure rights or pay copyright fees.

The venue should have a blanket license through performing rights organizations like ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC.

[perc2100]

Are ice skating teams paying out for copyright usage of music with their programs. What about WGI? Who pays copyright fees for Olympic teams. Do the taxpayers of the sponsoring countries pay the copyright fees?

To answer the other part of your question, yes indeed WGI has to worry about securing the rights to any music they perform to (or play, in the case for percussion). It is not uncommon at the end of a season when you're watching DVD's of finals to have portions of some group's shows go without audio because a group failed to obtain the necessary rights. I imagine it is just as big of an ordeal with WGI as it is for DCI (I've had to go through the process with WGI group, but have not literally gone through the process obtaining rights for a DCI corps). From the percussion end of WGI (which I participate in; I don't have much experience from the guard end), many groups use original music to make the process easier.

[Michael Boo]

...

And film composer Leo Arnaud and his heirs and assignees have made a huge bundle off a little 8-bar ditty from "Bugler's Dream", ever since it was first used as theme music in 1968 for the TV broadcasts of the Olympics.

That piece, as we know it, has an amazing history. Arnaud had no idea it would be anything special. (And if you live outside North America, you might still think that, as it's not associated with the Olympics anywhere else.)

It was simply part of a larger suite of pieces until someone at ABC chose it for their broadcast of the 1968 Winter Olympics. It disappeared in 1988 when ABC lost the Olympics to NBC; but due to its popularity, NBC bought the rights to use it starting with their broadcast of the 1992 Olympics.

Think of this this way: Can you imagine the theme of a late night talk show on one network being selected as the theme for a late night talk show on another network?

I now return you to the regularly scheduled topic thread.

[BRASSO]

Maybe we can save a few bucks in music royalties if we put a couple of ice skaters into our field programs.

Better yet, just pipe in the music on a machine, and let the dancers dance, and the brass and percussion go around the field doing fast drill and on occassion play a few staccato notes that augments the music singing of Billy Joel, Jethro Tull, Opera, The Who, or what not.

" Style TV Network is proud to present to you for your listening pleasure and in conjunction with Drum Corps International, taped from Tyler, Texas.........

Drum and Karaoke Corps !!

Edited February 23, 2010 by BRASSO

[cybersnyder]

In competitive cheerleading a fee is paid by the company that produces the music for the show, a lot of times that is fudged. A performance fee is paid by organizers of a competition and if that competition is to be broadcast, a special license is required. I'm not sure about the companies that record the performance, but I would guess that a portion of each sale goes to licensing.

What's interesting, IMHO, is it seems very fuzzy is to whom you pay the licensing fee. ASCAP, BMI, everyone that represents anything music-related? I think it's silly that I can't use music in a video that I want to put up on YouTube. Give me a reasonable method to purchase a YouTube video use license for personal use. But instead, we're just told "No, you can't do that."

[Gary Matczak]

Anytime music is broadcast for a public event that is making a profit (television that receives add revenue, bars that make money off of drinks/food, etc), licensing fees need to be paid.

what he said.