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Have eyou ever tried to get a license fee for music? I was trying to make a DVD for my daughters basketball team. It was to include 3-4 different songs. After contacting ASCAP, I found out that I would have to secure a license from each label, and in turn the attorneys of each recording artist.

In the end, it simply was too confusing. I WOULD have paid for it. I am in the copyrighted content business, and I felt it would only be right and proper. It would have been a good example for the kids and their parents.

However, getting the rights to the music for 15-20 DVDs was simply not worth the effort.

Make the fees reasonable and easy to secure, and most people will do the right thing.

Have you ever tried to get a license fee for music? I was trying to make a DVD for my daughters basketball team. It was to include 3-4 different songs. After contacting ASCAP, I found out that I would have to secure a license from each label, and in turn the attorneys of each recording artist.
In the end, it simply was too confusing. I WOULD have paid for it. I am in the copyrighted content business, and I felt it would only be right and proper. It would have been a good example for the kids and their parents.
However, getting the rights to the music for 15-20 DVDs was simply not worth the effort.
Make the fees reasonable and easy to secure, and most people will do the right thing.

Interesting post.

Some day I'll tell you about when I saw Disney wanting to charge (interdepartmentally) $100,000 to use a Disney song in an invite to a party for people (sponsors) who give vast amounts of money to Disney companies. And how including lyrics would be another $100,000. I'm talking about a party with a modest invitation list (less than 1500 people), but who provided $100 million in revenue to the company.

These fees were developed and administered by people who had nothing to do with creating the music or the lyrics. They simply owned the product and were charged (as a revenue center) with maximizing its value-- even to another department in their own company.

Needless to say, the petitioning department chose another route.

You should have just used the music... you weren't selling it... yout use would have been too small for them to care except for sending a "Cease and Desist" letter, which would, chances are, never happen.

Now if you were making 10,000 units and planning on selling them for 14.99 each at your daughter's game, I would be more concerned...