A question on music legality

In our latest film, we want to use a 5-10sec snippet of Marlene Dietrich singing "Falling in Love Again"

How do we go about getting permission to use this?

Cheers

 

I don't know how it is with actual music, but when you're writing you can legally use up to I think 250 characters of a song or poem without needing to get permission.

 

WRONG! Never, ever, under any circumstances assume you can use somebody else's music without their permission/licensing. This is a major issue and has many BAD (when I say bad, I mean bad...imagine all life ending instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light) outcomes. Danny Elfman once sued someone for using some of his polka beats, and won...BIG (he sorta acts like he owns the polka).

If you don't license it, you run the same risk and more than you would run an unlicensed software product. Somewhere down the line, you're gonna get busted for it. You can't escape ASCAP, because they listen to almost everything!

My advice is to clear the copyright, licensing, fees, and ask the song writer before continuing.

 

i am beginnin to dislike danny elfman

 

Hrrmmm. My advice to anyone giving advice on this matter is that you really shouldn't, if you're in the US (which I'm not), because YOU could be held legally responsible if some poor sap follows bad advice given by you (yeah, US copyright laws are _really_ screwy). French copyright laws are a lot better than the US ones. The system in France is that you can basically use whatever you want (there are exceptions), by declaring and paying royalties to the SACEM, which then transmits the royalties to the correct parties.

 

i live in holland.
don't know the copyright laws for them here.
have to check them out first.(because i also use music for my fan made film.)

 

You can legally use up to exactly 5 seconds of any sound without breaching copyright. This can be from a speach, song, movie, radio... you get the picture. Any more than 5 seconds in a sample and you'll be sorry.

 

depends on which country you live.
different rules everywere.
just read what jabbapapa said.

 

I would recommend that you check out www.copyright.gov. I believe you may contact any of the copyright holders to get permission. However, it might be tough actually finding a way to contact them.