The Copyright Act & "Fair Use" Doctrine

scarylarrywolf

scarylarrywolf

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I have a question about using songs in video production. I think this may have been covered in another thread, but it would be good to include it in this one anyway. Does anyone know generally how outrageous a fee one would be charged in order to use a song from, for example, the Trans Siberian Orchestra in a video prodcution? How does that work?
 
Beauregard

Beauregard

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Why is this thread sticky?

(I mean, I know people have been eating Muffins in it, but, still. Not they're not that sticky.)
 
M

MGov

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How do others feel about Muppet "replicas"?

I worked on a short film for a local, highly reputable film school a couple of years ago that was a spoof using Muppet characters. The producers received permission from Henson as long as the short was for classroom use only and it didn't appear anywhere else. It wasn't all that well written but it was fun to do.

We used the toy versions of many of the characters. I had to rig a couple of dolls as puppets. And there were two characters that I built from scratch. Nothing special. cheap foam rubber and some fast sewing. There wasn't a lot of time or money to do it well. But the characters looked good enough for the project and it ended up looking pretty good.

At the end of it all, the toy versions were returned to their owners (many of them me), the dolls I rigged as puppets , I gave to the puppeteers that performed them and of the two I built from scratch, I kept one (gave the other to a puppeteer).

I've had the character on display in our house and been asked if I was interested in selling it or building another one, a nicer one, to sell. Those "replicas" of Bert and Ernie sold on E-bay for $1250.00.

Really just interested in other people's opinions on this. I don't have a problem with the one sitting on my shelf. I didn't make any money from building it and I was only reimbursed for the materials, not the the time I spent on it. I know if I wanted to, I could take the time and build a really authentic looking and working version of it. But I would rather spend the time on my own projects than copying somebody else's.



But I did find just the right fabric for a new one at Joann's last week :halo:
 
Fozzie Bear

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People sell replicas of movie props all the time. Sad to say so, but the performers only think of the Muppets as "tools of the trade," thus being props of sorts and so...
 
M

MGov

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People sell replicas of movie props all the time. Sad to say so, but the performers only think of the Muppets as "tools of the trade," thus being props of sorts and so...
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And if the puppets were just plain puppets with no known personality (hence no intrinsic value), I would agree that they are just props.

But Muppet puppets are copyrighted characters. Heck, Kermit is a corporate logo.

Many people have posted pictures of their puppets here. They own the copyright to those puppets. Even if they have never registered them. The moment someone puts an idea in a tangible form (building a puppet, performing the character in front of an audience or on video tape or film), that person owns the copyright. Registering only establishes a definitive legal date of creation.

So if I see a puppet here that I really like, is it okay to make a replica of that puppet and sell it on E-bay or to another member?
 
Buck-Beaver

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MGov said:
So if I see a puppet here that I really like, is it okay to make a replica of that puppet and sell it on E-bay or to another member?
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I think that's rhetorical, but no it's not.

The problem is that a lot of people don't agree with the copyright laws the way they are written, especially in the U.S. they are rediciously draconian (I happen to be one of those people), but disagreeing with a law doesn't make it any less valid. It doesn't help that fair use is usually decided on a case-by-case basis. It's a murky, difficult issue that even experienced lawyers grapple with.'

Youth Media Distribution has a nice copyright toolkit online at http://www.ymdi.org/toolkit/archives/4_legal_issues/intro.php
 
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