WHAT EVERY PRODUCER SHOULD KNOW ABOUT MUSIC RIGHTS

The Use of Commercially Available Records
Do not use the music from a Record, Compact Disc or any music medium in a Film, a TV/Radio program or commercial, on a website or any other type of audio-visual production without prior permission from the copyright owners. You should obtain this permission from both the record company and the music publisher. You must obtain a synchronization licence from the copyright owner before usage that gives you permission to use their music in timed relationship with your production. In failing to do so, you may be held liable for copyright infringement and other actionable claims as provided in the Copyright Act; this could cost many times more than the original licence fees might have been.

Performing and Synchronization Rights
Synchronization Rights should not be confused with Performing Rights. A television or radio station may have a blanket SOCAN Performing Rights licence which grants the station the right to perform music on air, but the synchronization rights are never included in such an agreement and must always be negotiated separately with copyright owners.

Public Domain Music
Caution should be exercised in the use of Public Domain music. In Canada, copyright exists for fifty years after the composer's death. However, seventy years is the norm for most of Europe and some countries have even longer terms. It should also be noted that later versions, new arrangements or the addition of new lyrics may have placed the public domain selection back into the copyright category.

Pre-Recorded Production Music Libraries
Production Music Libraries have been specially created to avoid the often tedious procedures outlined above. A Production Music Library is both the publisher of the music and the record company and therefore only one clearance has to be made. A wide range of music is available from these libraries and they often contain music that would be difficult to obtain from a commercially available recording, as they have been especially produced as a service to the industry. Rates are normally set at a fairly low level for all recordings within a particular library's catalogue and are available on application to that library or its agent