The Copyright Act & "Fair Use" Doctrine

[Ryan]

Just as a FYI, if you ever were to use a Fraggle tape to lip-synch to and send to Henson as a demo it would be thrown in the trash immediately. They don't like people using clone 'Muppet' puppets or any copyrighted material at all in auditions and things.

I don't know how true that is. I sent in my audtion tape, which included a few Muppets songs, and I got a (from what I can tell) positive letter back, which basically said they liked my work, and had no intention on doing a workshop soon, but they'd contact me when they had the next one and invite me to it.

 

[Luke]

I don't know how true that is. I sent in my audtion tape, which included a few Muppets songs, and I got a (from what I can tell) positive letter back

It's kinda what Henson people have always said in advice. Were you singing the songs yourself or just lip-synching to a Henson tape ?

 

[FISH'N'WOLFE]

I don't know how true that is. I sent in my audtion tape, which included a few Muppets songs, and I got a (from what I can tell) positive letter back, which basically said they liked my work, and had no intention on doing a workshop soon, but they'd contact me when they had the next one and invite me to it.

Yes, I did the same and also got a great response letter inviting me to their next workshop. Even though I didn't do any Muppet songs I did use a copy of the Swedish Chef puppet, which I built. However all the rest of the stuff I did was original.

I HIGHLY DOUBT that they mind people using Muppet stuff in demos.

What they are looking for in the demos are performing skills, and the such, not whether someone is using a Muppet character or song.

 

[Fozzie Bear]

If it were me, I would not lip-sync to a song. I would use some music from some source, but they DO want performance skills and vocalizations! You have to have a wide range of voices to perform with the Muppets.

 

[Ryan]

If it were me, I would not lip-sync to a song. I would use some music from some source, but they DO want performance skills and vocalizations! You have to have a wide range of voices to perform with the Muppets.

I asked in advance about this, and Kevin said that lip synching was no problem in the audition tapes.

 

[Super Scooter]

I read something on the Henson website once that said that they prefer to see audition tapes where the performer uses his/her own voices, puppets, etc. But, I think this is just so the company can get a feel for what you can actually accomplish. Of course, I'm sure lip-synching to Muppet recordings and such is allowed, as Ryan said, he got a very positive response from it. It's just something that's preferred.

 

[Luke]

Yeah I had read the same thing Superscoot - I guess that is their official line but unofficially they will allow it. Someone here oughta interview Kevin for the site about what he looks for in a potential Muppeteer. We seem to have tons of young puppeteers around nowadays.

 

[Buck-Beaver]

I think that live singing/voice work would be preferred to lip-syncing. In terms of style, the Muppets have always opposed doing lip-sync to pre-recorded tracks since the late 60s (except for musical numbers) so I wouldn't think that would be something they would be looking for. I don't know one way or the other, that's just a guess.

Is it possible that people are confusing Henson's audition requirements with those of VEE Entertainment? They require people to lip sync to a pre-recorded song if you audition for "Sesame Street Live" or "Bear in the Big Blue House Live".

 

[Buck-Beaver]

I just thought I would post a link to a neat page I found that addresses the whole question of what is and isn't fair use - http://www.nolo.com/lawcenter/ency/...806/catID/2EB060FE-5A4B-4D81-883B0E540CC4CB1E

 

[sarah_yzma]

I have a question that concerns tape trading. I belong to another forum (Off Kilter Shrine) and we have talked about trading tapes of our favorite band, Off Kilter. We recorded all these ourselves while watching them perform live. I was wondering about the legality of it, and I'm not good at understanding legal jargon. Could someone please help, and point me to a source (the other people there want to have proof, which is understandable, none of us want to do anything illegal)