After a little more thought, your dog would probably do better in the role of a cat than me or most actors I know also, so I withdraw my original comment... :)

Bill

my dog Kitty
 

Good thing you withdrew, Kitty is one of Blue's nicknames. I was all set to shoot a few angles of her snoozing in the sun on the back cushion of the couch.

Haha... I think my cat, could play a better dog then my dog could play a cat.

Sun, whats that? I have not seen anything like that around here in a few days...

~Gabriel

cats?
 

What a coincidence! Yesterday after lunch I hatched a plan for a movie, but my orange cat (the star of the show) refused to re-enact one of his stunts from several years ago. I had my crane all set up and everything. Now it's looking like I have no choice but to shoot one of my earlier concepts or nothing at all.

Robert, I will try to wait until the day after to look at footage--if I have a day after, that is.

p.s. Thanks for the laughs, funny guys with your replies... :)

I missed it! I was looking forward to a new challenge. I guess I should check the posts more often that once a month.

I will be looking forward to the next one. Good luck to all!

No excusses Bruce! For this one you can sign up anytime. even now!!! And, you still have five days left!

Add you name to the list and get to shooting.

Mike

Question???
 

Heck yeah Mike! Like Kris says- they don't talk back and their pay scale is quite manageable.

On another note: Can anyone here help me with an answer to this question?

Can you tell me how many bars or words of a song CAN be used before it is considered a violation of copyright? What if an actor sang a few words of a known song in a film?

I realize this can be tricky and believe me, I would rather go the side of caution as opposed to the direction of trying to get away with something. If there is a legal AOK in this however, would love to know the exact rules and am having one heck of a time trying to find out.

Thanks and Best Wishes~
Bradley

If you can recognize it then it's a violation. It can even be a fragment of a second. The again saying "I love you" probably exists in a couple of thousand songs so it can't really be a violation. However I love you with the notes of a specific song is tougher.

What I would recommend you to do is go for traditional songs where the copyright is over. I think "Amazing grace" is one and I know there must be pretty many other songs which are recognizable but are now "safe" to use :)

I'm using a version of "O Holy Night"

I think that is also considered "safe" to use.

Thanks Fredrik
 

Hey Fredrick- always nice to see you here and thanks. I was concerned about this. I have contacted ASCAP to inquire into one song. There was some mention of a license variation in the less than 30 seconds category through ASCAP but this remains to be seen. If it isn't something we can do, I will do my usual legal purchasing of Royalty Free music, have the rights to use it, etc.

Best wishes and am looking forward to your film

Bradley

maybe your dog was a cat in a past life...that could be worked into the theme.

does anyone have any suggestions for something i can shoot by myself while completely quarantined with the flu?

must...stay...off...the...wall...of...shame. gasp wheeze ack

Thanks Mike
 

Hey Mike- thanks for the reply. I thought our song was "safe" too. However, after thorough researching, found out it is copyrighted and NOT public domain. Complete bummer!

I'm not going to do all of this work only to have an illegal/copyrighted song in my film. One, it isn't right and two, the film will be DQ'd. Not going to happen.

Be careful and be sure...that's all I can say.

Best wishes~
Bradley

Poor Meryem
 

Oh no! So sorry to hear you are feeling bad. Bummer! I hope you get feeling better soon.

If I have a brain flash of an idea for a little film for you, will let you know. Unfortunately, I seem to be frazzled at the present moment and unable to focus on anything. Hmm.

Best wishes~
Bradley

Well, any artistic creation (song, movie, book...) will always have copyright. However it's the echonomical rights that disappear after x years. Here in Sweden it's 70 years after the creator(s) died. I think it's the longest at the moment. In the UK a song is copyrighted for 50 or 60 years after the time it was recorded.

How do I find this out? I have permission by the artist who recorded his version of "O Holy Night". Is that enough? The score was originally created back in the 1800's.
Surely public domain by now... no?

Yeah, "o holy night" was written in the 19th century and if you have permission from the artist performing it and he/she isn't attached to any label it should be ok. But don't sue me if I am wrong! ;)

Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Holy_Night
Note that the new arrangement might be under new copyright but the original version (which I think everyone uses) should be ok...

There are no lyrics in his recording, strictly the music based on the original score.

With his creativity added to the mix. No label either...

Thanks,

Mike

Hey Mike,

I believe Fredrik is right. Here in the States it is 50 years. As such, Oh Holy Night should fall into the Public Domain area.

Thanks again Fredrik!

Best wishes~
Bradley

Thanks guys, I figured something so old would be safe. You can hear a bit of the version that I am using here... http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...551#post589551