@alcomposer- Off the CD.

Maybe try to find it on vimeo music - or YouTube music... It may be there?

"Happy Birthday" is not in the Public Domain?

LOL.

You need a sync license from the copyright holder of the music (composition/arrangement and lyrics), typically a music publishing company. You also need master use rights from the master recording's copyright holder, typically a record label. The copyright holder information is probably printed right on the CD and its inserts.

Good luck. It's doable, but I anticipate it would only be profitable for you if you are selling the final product.

Safe way: Use right free music. But this is not what you look for, when interpreting a song with video.

I got an Aimee Mann clip way back when for my short film, just by contacting the artist. If they like your film, they will help to get you the rights. On my last film I got Marshall Crenshaw to contribute music, but his manager was not that helpful. But generally companies don't sue someone who has no money, it's a waste of time...unless you're the RIAA. They seem to enjoy it.

I've been in a lot of festivals and to be honest, just use it. If you get to the point of recognition with your film that someone notices, that actually means people are watching your film; then deal with it. And as far as Youtube goes, many people have to post copyrighted music for their demo reels. I have my directed music videos from NYC on Youtube and Vimeo and you have the right under "Fair Use Copyright". If your story is political or has social merit, or the clip is for "promotional use only" you can post it and let them decide. Usually, if there is an objection they will block it in "some" countries.

You can see for yourself on my youtube channel if you like- http://www.youtube.com/user/LincolnlogFilms?feature=mhw5

I agree with @alcomposer above. Do check - I know someone who invested in a load of time to do a video and included a song from the 1940s and when she checked, after she'd finished editing it, she found out she would never be able to have the rights to broadcast (ie, make it available on the soundtrack of her video) as the rights owner had specifically forbidden it to be used in any form of radio or TV broadcast. As the video contained a sequence that had been meticulously edited to fit this very specific song, she eventually had to abandon a large chunk of the edit. Lesson learned, of course, which is to check first.

OTOH, the school choir I accompany did a show at Cheltenham town hall and a parent videoed it. We thought it was great to be able to show the parents, and in order to "do the right thing" I contacted the publisher, and they created an agreement which basically speficified the URL and the form of words on the video crediting the composer / arranger / publisher. This cost $25 - which I thought was pretty good to keep things legit. It just involved me putting a signature on the pdf agreement they created, then emailing it back, plus phoning up with a card payment. I was surprised it wasn't more money. Given we didn't know it was going to be videoed, the publisher did it very quickly considering and next time I'd definitely do it the correct way (with more notice). But this was a performance of a work for which the publisher had all the rights, so there was only one bunch of people to deal with.

And - do ask the rights holder(s). This might be a publisher and / or composer, and if not the same people, the recording company as well. They may be very happy that you have asked. I have had my own music reposted on YouTube and that's fine if people ask and credit me. I've also found a couple of instances where my music was reposted without asking and without crediting me - and emailed YouTube who removed them in minutes. YouTube is pretty swift and ruthless if you have the law on your side. If you've spent a while editing a video and that happens to you, it's a bummer, of course, but of course by posting a video you are acknowledging that it is all entirely your content or content that you have permission to post.

@Lincoln11 Fair use (I think) only applies in the US. And IP rights are (IMO) only just about keeping up with the way people use music etc nowadays; but you don't want to go pissing off lawyers. They eat their young.

@RBD the CD itself will have the rights info printed on the CD or box. If you are using a copy with no printed text information then stick it into a media player and you should be able to find out the rights information from an online database once the CD is recognised.

If it will never be seen outside of a handful of people, you could just stick it on vimeo with a private URL and hope for the best. But if it's any good, the problem is it's out of your control who shares it.

As a rule of thumb rights usually last for 70 years after the composer's / author's death, or 70 years after the work was published for the first time (if later) so hope that helps.

@goanna Thanks! And I hope I don't come across as some holier-than-thou type about copyright, because like (I'm sure) most people I've got the odd bit of stuff that is a copy of something I should have paid for. But putting an illegal copy of someone's music (or whatever) out in public is a bit more of a risk!

In terms of the "70 years" rules, the US had a period of 50 years for a while, and when they signed up to the Berne agreement there were a few works which had their copyright extended. I believe "Happy Birthday to You" was one of those. Even if it's not, Happy Birthday is an example of something that dates from first publication, which is later than the death of the original authors - and one that's been challenged from time to time as to whether it's still in copyright or not.

...not before. That's what editing is- revisions.

The concern of copyright infringement is serious if your film's final destination is a commercial one. But if it's for online presentation without fees or payment, don't let it prohibit you. If your clip is rejected, you just find an alternate. Spending so much time dealing with copyright issues on a 3 minute video for Youtube is a waste of time. Again if you're talking about a short for film festivals or for potential commercial sale, then the above series of posts are a good start.

Happy holidays, make your film! http://www.youtube.com/user/LincolnlogFilms?feature=mhw5

"Met my old lover in a grocery store..."

Sorry getting all nostalgic. Hey, it's the holidays. Good luck man.