I have someone that has asked me to make a movie/slideshow of old family photos for them on DVD and they want to have music put to it. Now, legally, if I ask to be paid for that would I need to pay loyaltes on the music or since it's only for their private viewing and they're not getting any money for someone else watching it would I not have to bother with it?
2007-03-17 05:41:45 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
My opinion is that for the use you described, you would not have to pay royalties.
2007-03-17 05:46:28 · answer #1 · answered by catintrepid 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Copyright deals with who has legal authority to make copies (or to distribute or publish) a particular work. It's not about royalties.
If the family has rights to the music, such as having composed it, then they have the right to make copies.
If the family has a license to play the music, such as because they own a CD that gives them the right to listen, then then can copy that music onto some other medium for their personal use. That's within the implied scope of the license when they bought the music CD.
If the people asking you to make copies are not the owners of the music, and do not have any legal right to make copies of the music, then the act of making unauthorized copies is copyright infringement. It doesn't matter if money is involved or not.
2007-03-17 14:12:11 · answer #2 · answered by coragryph 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you accepted payment then technically yes you would have to pay for the right to use the music of others. If you are doing it for free and for just one person then your use is probably "fair use" and you wouldn't have to pay. The rule of thumb for fair use is: are you only using as much of someone else's work as reasonably necessary and are you doing it for no profit.
But even if you did charge, unless you are starting some type of business how would anyone ever find out?
2007-03-17 13:28:25 · answer #3 · answered by Daz2020 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋