Copyright's and performing arts material

Our local high school preforming arts group presented a well know 1964 Broadway musical. After expressing an interest in recording, I lost the bid to a local "professional" videographer who sold DVD's at $20.

After viewing the absolute junk they put together, I began questioning why I lost the bid. As I had already recorded a previous show with great results, I was sure to win the bid.

One topic that kept coming to the surface was copyright. As a professional videographer, this other fellow had some global copyright lic. that had broad powers and he could do pretty much what ever he wanted.

I felt pretty confident when using copyrighted material, one would need to find the copyright holder seeking written permission to use the material. There is no golden wand.

Am I correct?

Oh, thanks to for letting me vent. I figured this other company made better then $1800.00. I could have really used that cash this early in my business.

Kman198

There is no broad universal license for using copyright material. The jerk flat out lied. Now, a performance is owned by the owner of that performance. Not the music, script, etc, but the performance only. Not the videographer. He has nothing. I got a friend named Gino who can pay this guy a visit. My friend Boudreaux also knows the really big, old, aggressive gators in the swamps that'll eat whole bodies. Just saying...

I think you will find that unless the people who organised the performance have paid a fee to put the show on, the copyright holder of the musical will be the one suing

Just for reference here is a link to the Disney Theatrical licensing website FAQ: disneytheatricallicensing.com/faq

As Ben has said there is no universal license model for using copyright material. That's the essence of what a copyright provides to the creator of the work - the creator can set the terms of the license as they see fit - or not allow a license at all. It happens all the time that you can't get a license to use a certain piece of music for instance - just ask the Beatles.

Now there are certainly a lot of licenses available for high schools to perform musicals and such but as the Disney site says (for instance) even recording them for any type of audience paying or not still requires an additional permission. Here's their policy:

Can I record my child’s theatre’s production?

A school or organization must obtain a video license from MTI before any individual records the production. Otherwise, video recording under all circumstances is prohibited. A separate video license form comes with the licensing contract, which you may fill out and return along with the contract.

Global copyrights? pfffff :silly:

I think, I'm on the same globe as he, and in my tiny country for example we have no ©opyrights, but Urheber- (creators) and Nutzungs-Rechte (usage). And some private institutions, such as Gema, which claims it shares too.

kman198 wrote: …Am I correct? …

For sure!
© are very complex, as mentioned by others, the creators has right, the publisher has rights, and - just to mention that: The performers have rights. Indeed, your competitor has rights too. And, at last in my country, they differ btw. 'commercial/public' and 'private' presentation ....

Since Youtube, 'global' rights are [strike]a pita[/strike] an issue.

(btw: @thinkfilm: thanks for sharing that Disney-thingie, never heard of, that the Mouse-company sells complete 'sets' for such performances. A very smart move and charming way to demand money - you don't have to pay for an abstract thing as ©, but you purchase a 'packageÄ)

… sad story, kman198, … 
Sic that guy the advocats of the real © owener of this piece.
(theoratically, that guy has to have a contract with every person shown in 'his' video <evil chuckle> )

… leaving that uncomfortable zone of 'Law&Order', sad to hear, that the kids&families get an unpleasant product … they have to pay for! Pretty sure, you would have done better.-