Kyle Jahner, Bloomberg Law; Colbert ‘Charlie Brown’ Joke Conjures Untested Copyright Theory
"But use of the music also touches on issues involving “synchronization rights"—a separate right to use music that appears in an audio-visual work.
The concept arose from a 1948 New York federal court case describing the form of copyright movie studios acquired in order to use music in their films. Theaters didn’t have to separately pay the performance rights organization for the right to use the songs on top of rights to play the movie because the movie producer already had paid for the right to incorporate the music into their work, the court said.
How exactly that right relates to taped television performances and rebroadcasts on TV and online isn’t well-tested.
John Simson, a professor of IP law at American University, said there’s a broad assumption that a sync license is required to do virtually anything with a taped performance.
“Publishers in the US have taken the position that it’s a sync even if you just show video of a performance,” said Simson, former executive director of sound recording rights clearinghouse SoundExchange. “I don’t really agree with that.”
“No one’s really gone to the mat on that” by taking a case far enough to set precedential boundaries for what kinds of re-uses of already-licensed works require a distinct sync license, he said."
No comments:
Post a Comment