Posted by Ted Langdell on 01/31/35 11:30

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Regarding your situation:

You also need to be able to make sure the music that exists in the shows can
be used.

If there are no files that accompany the tapes that would enable you to
determine what the terms were for each piece of music, you'll need to
identify who holds the copyright for the music and the performance of it, and
obtain the right to use BOTH, which can be separate things.

For example, lets say you have a music-based show from 1962 in which a famous
singer appears and sings his or her latest song.

Perhaps the appearance was covered by a release the singer signed with the
production company, but the performance was lip-synced to the recording the
singer was there to promote.

You'd have to make sure you could find the release the singer signed, any
paperwork for the song itself and paperwork for the performance OF THE
RECORDING that was played back during the show.

If there's paperwork available from the guy you're dealing with to cover this
kind of thing, you'll be able to see whether you are cleared to use the
singer's image, the song and the recorded performance without further ado
involving the singer, the song's copyright holder, or the record company that
recorded the singer.

If not, expect to have to inquire with all three to see if they have copies
of any documents regarding the appearance. Absent any, expect to have to
negotiate something fresh to cover your new use of the three things.

There are a number of documentaries, for example, that can't be shown or
marketed as DVDs today, because the rights to use musical or visual elements
were limited in some way when the show was originally produced, and the
owners of those elements want too much money or simply won't agree to allow
the elements to be used today.

You have to know about those pitfalls BEFORE you agree to any license terms,
so you don't agree to pay money for something you can't ever profit from
because ONE element can't be cleared.

Try using Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" speech, and you'll have to
pay his estate for the privilege.

You also should have the person granting the show license to you agree to
hold you and anyone involved in your end of the deal harmless--to pay your
legal bills and to defend you and your duplicator, marketing co., etc.--if
someone sues you over your use of some element of the production.

Ted

On Thu, 13 Oct 2005 20:09:35 -0700, Richard Crowley wrote
(in article <din7hf$jl9$1@news01.intel.com>):

> "Drake" wrote ...
>> Bob Cap wrote:
>>> "Drake" wrote ...
>>>> Someone that I know owns the tape library of an old show that no longer
>>>> is shown on television, and he is offering to license the tapes to me.
>>>> I'm sure that people would buy these tapes, but the problem is that I
>>>> don't have any production equipment. Is there a way that I can still
>>>> make money from the tape library? Thanks.
>>>
>>> Does he own the copyright or just has the tapes?
>>>
>> He was the owner of the show, so I guess that would mean that he owns the
>> copyright, correct?
>
> "owner of the show" doesn't really mean anything definitive.
> Either he holds the legal copyright ("right to copy") or he doesn't.
> Furthermore there may also be contractual agreements with
> others (like the actors or even the sponsors of older TV shows)
> for a portion of any money made off the show ("residuals", etc.)
>
>>> If he owns the copyright and makes a license agreement with you for
>>> mechanical duplication and sales you can have them duplicated or copied
>>> to DVD and sell them.
>>>
>> About how much does it usually for someone to engage in a license
>> agreement?
>
> Whatever the market will bear. It ranges between free and
> millions of dollars. There is no "about how much".
>
> You REALLY need to contact legal counsel who specializes
> in this kind of agreement. This is not an area for amateurs if
> any kind of money is involved. Never take legal advice from
> strangers on the internet.
>
> If this is a show that used to be on commercial TV and it is
> young enough to have been produced on videotape, you might
> contact TVland or one of those satellite channels that runs old
> TV shows. If you got some air time there, a release of a DVD
> set would be even more profitable.
>
> This assumes that "tapes of the show" means the masters or
> professional release copies and not just something somebody
> recorded off the air.
>
>

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