A Very candid interview with Dan Acheson

[Jeff Ream]

BOA has employed the "no-play" list method for participating bands. Are they stupid, impractical and ridiculous? Hundreds of scholastic bands gladly play the game according to BOA policies.

What I find stupid, impractical and ridiculous would be for DCI to adopt no policies regarding rights for synchronization, streaming or sampling. Corps have already demonstrated "stupid" in their apparent ignorance of rights implications when making design choices. The only question would be how DCI chooses between "impractical" (i.e. the escalated cost of synch rights due to ill-chosen songs) or "ridiculous" (i.e. recordings with chunks of time missing, or whole corps omitted).

As Dan Acheson said, DCI is in the music business. Common sense policies regarding music selection are an essential step in conducting this business.

well even the do not play list can't be viewed as flawless, given the changes

I believe DCI has internally developed a "have this cleared by or else" date, but i'm not sure what the penalties, if any are. Worse case scenario it could be "ok you perform, but you're not on any dvd's cd's or even live streams.

[Channel3]

What's killing DCI is the licensing hassle, not the royalties themselves. The paperwork, accounting and legal consulting costs more than the $17 licensing fee for Troopers' use of the theme from The Exorcist in 1977. At Sony Pictures Entertainment and Warner Brothers, often there are participation accountants who pour over accounting records for multiple picture bundles and multiple licenses three months, and the total licensing due is less than $4,000. (It costs more to calculate and produce the check than the royalty is worth in many cases.)

What is the date range that DCI is clearing the use of these properties for? In perpetuity? Otherwise, DCI will have to renew the licenses again in 10 or 20 years. Oy vey. (Many companies like Sony Music will only write contracts with a date range of 20 years, max.)

It's clear that not only will DCI shy away from royalty intensive properties, but DCI is going to become an activity focused on new compositions. Preferably written by marching members who will more likely sign any contract put in front of them.

This is the best thing for the activity. New compositions will be cheaper, and help DCI reduce its legal department. New compositions will legitimize the activity, and encourage marching members to become involved in composition. New compositions will vault DCI into the realm of a legitimate art form, instead of a Tijuana juke box with pirated music.

Edited December 30, 2015 by Channel3

[Channel3]

Licensing departments at major music and entertainment companies have, in the last five years, become tech-savvy with their licensing databases. Now, songs and other music works from film and television are easier to track. The Internet has made it easier for licensing departments to quickly fire off an email to an offending company who uses a song without proper licensing and start a dispute. A simple email.

Even reality television has become painfully aware of licensing issues. Reality show participants are encouraged not to hum or even whistle songs. They're not allowed to use their cell phones for fear of playing a Youtube video or song. They're encouraged not to say brand names or mention any celebrity or sports figure of any kind, except using the names of government figures like elected officials. Sadly, reality show participants are even encouraged not to improvise their own songs on the air for fear that they will turn around and demand royalties from the production company. It's almost absurd.

Conversely, when it first started out, MTV paid bands royalties to use their music on shows like Road Rules and The Real World. Then MTV realized that they could pay nothing by making special arrangements with bands who wanted the exposure and were willing to license their works to MTV for free. (And by "free" I mean bands paid MTV producers under the table to have their songs air.)

Edited December 30, 2015 by Channel3

[Ghost]

instead of a Tijuana juke box with pirated music.

Ouch.

[cowtown]

http://freemusicarchive.org/

[drumcorpsfever]

The Bluecoats are ahead of the curve by working with forward-thinking, modern composers.

[Jeff Ream]

What's killing DCI is the licensing hassle, not the royalties themselves. The paperwork, accounting and legal consulting costs more than the $17 licensing fee for Troopers' use of the theme from The Exorcist in 1977. At Sony Pictures Entertainment and Warner Brothers, often there are participation accountants who pour over accounting records for multiple pictures and multiple licenses three months, and the total licensing due is less than $4,000. (It costs more to calculate and produce the check than the royalty is worth in many cases.)

What is the date range that DCI is clearing the use of these properties for? In perpetuity? Otherwise, DCI will have to renew the licenses again in 10 or 20 years. Oy vey. (Many companies like Sony Music will only write contracts with a date range of 20 years, max.)

It's clear that not only will DCI shy away from licensed properties, but DCI is going to become an activity focused on new compositions. Preferably written by marching members who will more likely sign any contract put in front of them.

This is the best thing for the activity. New compositions will be cheaper, and help DCI reduce its legal department. New compositions will legitimize the activity, and encourage marching members to become involved in composition. New compositions will vault DCI into the realm of a legitimate art form, instead of a Tijuana juke box with pirated music.

well...yes and no. See if tresona is right in how fees are to be collected, DCi could have oodles of make goods on old stuff that wasn't done to the letter of the law. So royalties could be a massive issue.

let's say the interpretation is correct, and Sony gets wind. They go back and look over everything, and lo and behold, if you do the math right, going back to 1972, DCI owes them 6 figures.

so where's that cash coming from, because you know there will be other large players wanting to get in on the game as well as smaller players.

[Jeff Ream]

The Bluecoats are ahead of the curve by working with forward-thinking, modern composers.

until said composers decide to sell stuff off, or their estates do.

[HornTeacher]

well...yes and no. See if tresona is right in how fees are to be collected, DCi could have oodles of make goods on old stuff that wasn't done to the letter of the law. So royalties could be a massive issue.

let's say the interpretation is correct, and Sony gets wind. They go back and look over everything, and lo and behold, if you do the math right, going back to 1972, DCI owes them 6 figures.

so where's that cash coming from, because you know there will be other large players wanting to get in on the game as well as smaller players.

Not picking on or at you, Jeff. Just posting the following link for general info on the matter...

http://law.freeadvice.com/intellectual_property/copyright_law/copyright_statute_limitations.htm

[Ghost]

Not picking on or at you, Jeff.

You wimp!