Music Licensing Question at DVinfo.net

Elmer Lang · March 28th, 2006, 09:24 PM

Hello,

Hope this is the right forum.

I want to use a track off a friend's cd. Obviously, it is music not written specifically for the movie. He wants a percentage of future earnings.

What would be a fair amount?

thank you,
elmer

Georg Liigand · March 29th, 2006, 08:30 AM

Hi,

It actually depends on how much you use his music in length, but I would say that max. 5% if talking in percents. I did some calculations and if I want to release a DVD of 50 minutes in length having 30 minutes of copyrighted music in it (Robbie Williams, Enya etc.) then the percent I have to pay per sale doesn't get much over 10% so your friend certainly can't ask too much from you.

Elmer Lang · March 29th, 2006, 09:49 AM

Thanks for the info!

I probably will use his music nearly throughout the short film (4:13). Again, it wasn't written specifically for the movie, it's just a track off his cd.

When you speak of percentages, do you mean net receipts?

And if I use someone's music as the opening music over which credits run, is 5% a good figure for licensing?

elmer

Georg Liigand · March 29th, 2006, 01:11 PM

You're welcome.

Your film is rather short and therefore the amount you pay him cannot go too high. Currently it seems like you are going to do it 'between friends' without contracts and you should be able to find some positive solution for both. However, if you're interested here's a logic that is used for calculating copyrighted music costs per sale (for example internet download and I guess it applied to DVD as well). It is based on the Nordisk Copyright Bureau in Europe, but all in all it shouldn't differ too much wherever you're located.

According to the Digital Phonogram Delivery (DPD) rule the fee for music is 12% from the sale price, but depending on the proportion used throughout the final video. For example if the video is 5 minutes long, you are using 1 minute of music in it and the final price is 15 EUR, then the author fee is calculated like this: 12% x 15 x 0.2 = 0.36 EUR where 0.2 is the ratio between the video length and music used. There is also a one-time fee which applies to copyrighted music and as an extra to the calculations above, but I believe this is not important for you at the moment.

March 28th, 2006, 09:24 PM	#1
Elmer Lang Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: NY, NY Posts: 319	Music Licensing Question Hello, Hope this is the right forum. I want to use a track off a friend's cd. Obviously, it is music not written specifically for the movie. He wants a percentage of future earnings. What would be a fair amount? thank you, elmer

March 29th, 2006, 08:30 AM	#2
Georg Liigand Major Player Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Estonia Posts: 214	Hi, It actually depends on how much you use his music in length, but I would say that max. 5% if talking in percents. I did some calculations and if I want to release a DVD of 50 minutes in length having 30 minutes of copyrighted music in it (Robbie Williams, Enya etc.) then the percent I have to pay per sale doesn't get much over 10% so your friend certainly can't ask too much from you. __________________ Panasonic GH5 V-Log L + Metabones 0.64x + Sigma Art 18-35 F1.8; DMW-XLR1; Panasonic HC-X1 camcorder; DJI Ronin MX - CINEFILM Estonia http://www.cinefilm.ee

March 29th, 2006, 01:11 PM	#4
Georg Liigand Major Player Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Estonia Posts: 214	You're welcome. Your film is rather short and therefore the amount you pay him cannot go too high. Currently it seems like you are going to do it 'between friends' without contracts and you should be able to find some positive solution for both. However, if you're interested here's a logic that is used for calculating copyrighted music costs per sale (for example internet download and I guess it applied to DVD as well). It is based on the Nordisk Copyright Bureau in Europe, but all in all it shouldn't differ too much wherever you're located. According to the Digital Phonogram Delivery (DPD) rule the fee for music is 12% from the sale price, but depending on the proportion used throughout the final video. For example if the video is 5 minutes long, you are using 1 minute of music in it and the final price is 15 EUR, then the author fee is calculated like this: 12% x 15 x 0.2 = 0.36 EUR where 0.2 is the ratio between the video length and music used. There is also a one-time fee which applies to copyrighted music and as an extra to the calculations above, but I believe this is not important for you at the moment. __________________ Panasonic GH5 V-Log L + Metabones 0.64x + Sigma Art 18-35 F1.8; DMW-XLR1; Panasonic HC-X1 camcorder; DJI Ronin MX - CINEFILM Estonia http://www.cinefilm.ee

March 29th, 2006, 09:49 AM	#3
Elmer Lang Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: NY, NY Posts: 319	Thanks for the info! I probably will use his music nearly throughout the short film (4:13). Again, it wasn't written specifically for the movie, it's just a track off his cd. When you speak of percentages, do you mean net receipts? And if I use someone's music as the opening music over which credits run, is 5% a good figure for licensing? elmer