Using a Mozart song in my independent film.
 

If I were to use a small part of Symphony No. 40, 1st Movement by Wolfgang Mozart in my film who would I contact for permission/royalty information? I would assume that it would be royalty-free as it is classical music and obviously the composer is long dead, but I want to make sure. Thanks all.

I'm no lawyer, so don't rely on me, but...

You're probably fine just as long as you aren't using someone else's recording of the song. If you record it yourself, and the performers playing signed a "work for hire" contract with you, or if whoever has the rights to the recording gave you a sync license to use the recording, then you're probably good to go. But the point is, there are rights in the song itself, in the performers on the recording, and in the recording itself -- any or all of which may or may not still retain some rights. In this case, I think the composition is in the public domain, but that's only one piece of the puzzle. Also, sometimes a specific arrangement of the piece can be copyrighted I believe, which is another thing to watch out for.

If you obtained it on a CD, the copyright belongs to the recording company.

Regardless of where you got it, the copyright belongs to either the performers or to the producer, or publisher, or all three.
Public Domain works are only royalty free if you perform them yourself. If you can't, then you get a song that is a PD song, but the performer holds royalty.

Take a look at the Magnatune website ... www.magnatune.com. They have library of well performed music that can be licensed for very reasonable rates. I noticed a fair amount of Mozart in their classical section - I didn't see the 40th listed explicity but there were a couple of his orchestral work compilations that I didn't look through. You can listen to their entire library free online.

magnatune
 

Hi Steve

Thanks Steve, I've been listening to magnatune on computer radio for some time, but did not link them up with film music production and licensing.

Absolutely brilliant...

Rodney Compton

UK