Music Rights (Again)

[Rufus67]

Didn't want to hijack the discussion on the new rules, and I have no idea if this is even possible, but could one proposed rule be that music and/or sound bites used in shows have to have the rights secured before the season starts for performance and reproduction in both audio and video (and provide proof of the rights being secured)? Would something like that help with getting cds and Bluerays out in a more timely manner?

Maybe corps already have to do this, maybe it would be prohibitively expensive for corps to do this, and it might significantly put a dent in the available music to use in shows, but would it not be worth it in order to market the cds and videos on something approaching a more regular basis?

[Peel Paint]

It's a good question that has been discussed a lot already in other threads, so if you want to explore the idea and don't get many responses (you may, anyway), look deeper down the thread list, such as at the ones dealing with 2015 CDs, videos, etc. But briefly, a couple of reasons why you don't see that as a rule proposal despite recent problems, are that:

1. Keep in mind, unlike many similar organizations, DCI is the corps (plural), and the DCI board and the folks in charge of rules votes are the corps directors--they're in charge, not some group of administrators running the circuit. And the corps directors like the artistic freedom of not being restricted in material. One key reason for this is that there has been some indication that ticket and ancillary revenue related to shows dwarfs what they earn from media sales. So they may well be smarter to be more concerned with live shows than Blu-Ray sales.

2. Sometimes when sync rights (video with music) are obtained, and these can take a full year to get (lots of lead time), the copyright holder retains the right to yank them away later, as when they sell the tune to a major corporation for advertising. You want sync rights, you have to agree. So there have been instances where DCI had the rights before the summer but lost them before the videos went out.

Edited January 8, 2016 by Peel Paint

[mingusmonk]

You could try and make the corps provide the material they are using. (with lots of lead time. And force them to not make any mid-season changes ) But DCI is the organization that needs the obtain the right to synch, etc. Corps just need the right to arrange and perform.

Let's say I specialize right now in arranging Backstreet Boys songs for my Ukulele Orchestras. And I get the rights to arrange for the entire Backstreet Boys catalog.

Then you say you want to make recordings of my ensemble playing these Backstreet Boys songs and sell CD's, MP3, vinyl, etc. It would do no good for me to have the synch and related rights. You would need to have those rights.

Edited January 8, 2016 by mingusmonk

[2muchcoffeeman]

Let's say I specialize right now in arranging Backstreet Boys songs for my Ukulele Orchestras. And I get the rights to arrange for the entire Backstreet Boys catalog.

Then you say you want to make recordings of my ensemble playing these Backstreet Boys songs and sell CD's, MP3, vinyl, etc. It would do no good for me to have the synch and related rights. You would need to have those rights.

For the record, THIS IS PURELY HYPOTHETICAL

[xandandl]

For the record, THIS IS PURELY HYPOTHETICAL

then again, based on what is voted on at the Rules Congress... ...SoundSport?

[drumcorpsfever]

Corps that create licensing issues that result in blocked content on recordings should be penalized financially by DCI. As a consumer-purchasing fan of audio and visual, I hate buying stuff that has pieces blocked out.

In the sprit of reaching out to their fans, there should have been something to propose in this year's rules congress to make it seem, at least, like DCI cares about it's fan-buying public.

Edited January 9, 2016 by drumcorpsfever

[Quad Aces]

2. Sometimes when sync rights (video with music) are obtained, and these can take a full year to get (lots of lead time), the copyright holder retains the right to yank them away later, as when they sell the tune to a major corporation for advertising. You want sync rights, you have to agree. So there have been instances where DCI had the rights before the summer but lost them before the videos went out.

We keep hearing this as a reason that DCI can't do something like the OP suggests. Have there been any other examples of this happening other than 2011 Madison with Empire State of Mind? If this is the only example of sync rights getting yanked after the fact, can we chalk it up to a really unusual set of circumstances and the exception rather than the rule?

[traverbanking]

The first release of the 2008 DVD's had the complete Phantom Regiment show. One of the rights holders, after seeing the synchronization on the DVD, reversed his earlier permission and subsequent production runs of the DVD's had to delete his portion of that show. This shows an important aspect of this discussion. Until Tom Blair makes his final edit in September (or whenever) the rights holder cannot see what it is he would be giving his permission to.

[Peel Paint]

We keep hearing this as a reason that DCI can't do something like the OP suggests. Have there been any other examples of this happening other than 2011 Madison with Empire State of Mind? If this is the only example of sync rights getting yanked after the fact, can we chalk it up to a really unusual set of circumstances and the exception rather than the rule?

I thought there was one other example, though I don't recall specifics, but could be Empire was the only one. I'm probably thinking of the 2008 Phantom example above which was slightly different in nature, no sound-bite commercial interest, but a composer possibly changing his mind.

Maybe supporting what you're getting at, wasn't there an earlier example of an ad campaign butting in on DCI involving United Airlines locking in Rhapsody in Blue or a company who wanted American in Paris for ads that may have kept a corps from performing it in the first place? That may have been a performance license rather than sync rights issue. .

I think the money argument (show and ancillary revenue dwarfing media sales) is the one that's likely to motivate corps directors anyway, IF that one's true. Perhaps more generally, corps directors are likely to be more concerned with this week and this season than historic legacy or recruitment value. "Videos? Whatever."

Edited January 9, 2016 by Peel Paint