Pop music in feature stories

[Kool Koozie]

What rules do you follow when inserting pop music into feature stories when your station doesn't have an ASCAP or BMI license?

What's the fair use law?

I've heard 7 seconds. Is that 7 seconds of the music up alone and identifiable? Or can you have the music under a voice track for a little longer?

Yes, I know the ND should know his own station policy. But I'm curious as to how other stations interpret the rule.

[slipstream]

I always thought that if you didn't pay, you didn't play...

[sonorandesert]

I'll take a shot.
Spent some time in radio and the time of year to fear was either ASCAP week or BMI week.
An arbitrary time of reporting what was being played and by whom.
Name of song, who recorded it, who wrote it and when was it played?
Labor intensive for the jock, but imagine the schmucks in NYC who have to tabulate the information.

A "fair use" license?
Never heard of that.

However, I believe there is an "x" second window of use (maybe 10 seconds, TOPS) if the MELODY or BRIDGE is played, but no vocals. If vocals are used, then the producer or reporter must write down the pertinate information on a pre-printed form (see above).

Play a portion of "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" (1 1/2 minutes with vocals, perhaps), have the checkbook out.
Play a snipet (an area that only a true Iron Butterfly fan would enjoy, but no vocals), that should be ok, but still needs to be reported.

BTW, the charge does depend on the size of any given market.
Radio or TV in Billings Montana will pay a fee, but it will be cheaper than the outlets in Las Vegas or Tucson.

I think I gave you a simple rule of thumb.

Anyone?
If I am mistaken, please enlighten me.

[ June 12, 2006, 02:04 AM: Message edited by: sonorandesert ]

[Pro]

The ONLY time - I believe - that you can use copyrighted music as part of a news story is when it is germaine to news coverage. If, say, the Stones are playing in your town, they'll allow cameras to cover their first song (in my experience, that was "Start Me Up", but it's been awhile). If you show a clip of that on your newscast, you're fine, it's news coverage. Also, if you do a story about an artist and voice-over a brief clip from a provided music video, that's OK, too.

But if you show the entire song from the concert or show the entire video NOT in context with a news story, then you might have license fee problems.

BTW, An ASCAP and BMI license doesn't give you unlimited use. It just covers your station for theme use. Someone from your station has to provide ASCAP and BMI with a list of your network, syndicated and local (including news) shows so your fee(s) can be divided up among the theme composers.

[Kool Koozie]

I'd heard that using 7 seconds of a copyrighted song is the rule in a news story. But I'm not clear if that means 7 seconds total or whether you can use a little more underneath the voice track to establish the music before you bring it all the way up.

Talking about audio only, no video.

[TAFKA wacowx]

Originally posted by Koo Koo:
I'd heard that using 7 seconds of a copyrighted song is the rule in a news story. But I'm not clear if that means 7 seconds total or whether you can use a little more underneath the voice track to establish the music before you bring it all the way up.

Talking about audio only, no video.I agree with the others and don't believe that is the case. UNLESS your station pays ASCAP or BMI fees already for usage of ANY music.

We pay fees at our local community theatre to be able to use SOME music as pre-show...and we are non-profit.

Can you get away with it? Maybe, but it's my understanding that it's illegal.

[The Mockingbird]

If your station isn't paying ASCAP or BMI...

It's 15 seconds or less of Nats, not full, but only if it's in the background, as part of a news story.

No use of any music full is allowed.

[facts]

Mockingbird, I believe, is describing the difference between ambient music and inserted music.

So, to answer the posters question (though none of us are music lawyers).. that would be 7 seconds of "I can't drive 55" in your speed limit story that you were lucky enough to record blasting out of a passing convertible. Not something you inserted off CD back in the edit bay.

[ June 12, 2006, 07:52 AM: Message edited by: facts ]

[facts]

Originally posted by Koo Koo:

What's the fair use law?
Fair use -- which you can google -- says that you can use a clip of music or other copyrighted material when speaking DIRECTLY about that work.

So, for instance, someone writing a book review can reprint a paragraph of the book in his or her criticism of the overall work.

You could use a music clip of I can't drive 55 to talk about how Sammy Hagar sings differently that David Lee Roth, but you can't use it in a story about speed limits (see above).

Or get yourself a blanket ASCAP agreement and go nuts.

[DoneThatToo]

And please, don't set up a CD player and mic it and then try to pass that off as nat sound.

Yes I have seen people try to do that.

[Kool Koozie]

Originally posted by facts:
So, to answer the posters question (though none of us are music lawyers).. that would be 7 seconds of "I can't drive 55" in your speed limit story that you were lucky enough to record blasting out of a passing convertible. Not something you inserted off CD back in the edit bay.Zero seconds of unless it was at the scene of the story?

[facts]

Right.

[Kool Koozie]

Is that a "better safe than sorry" policy at your station? Or is it your understanding of the law?

Does anyone actually know anyone who's suffered the consequences of using 5 seconds of a song in a news story? Or 10 seconds?

[TXPhotog]

It's been awhile since they last went over that with us here but it also has to do with how many times the story runs. I think it's somewhere between 15-30 seconds total but the story can only run once. I'll have to recheck with our lawyer at the annual legal seminar in a week.

[Roy Hobbs]

Gosh, there was a time when you told stories using natural sound and pictures.

[News Is Broken]

Originally posted by Roy Hobbs:
Gosh, there was a time when you told stories using natural sound and pictures.Yeah, I sure am glad we don't have to do THAT anymore!

[upandown]

As a general, but not exclusive rule, it is not good technique. It's a cop out.

Why waste air time with pop music lyrics when you can make the point better with narrative track?

When I hear pop music in a feature story, my stomach curls and the channel changes.

You can do better.

1999

[Spike]

Originally posted by upandown:
You can do better.

1999Oh, great. Now I have THAT song stuck in my head.

[Kool Koozie]

Pop culture references are that bad? I hear it all the time on the networks. The Today show and Dateline especially. Never bothered me before.

[The Fedora]

Gotta party like it's...

DAMMITTT!

Thanks U&D.

:D