Looking for advice please! I'm in a covers band, we only ever perform other people's songs (although often to our own arrangements). We performed at a festival recently and post-event we were contacted by a production company asking for our permission to use footage it had filmed of the band for a project it has underway. We rely on our venues/festivals to have the appropriate licences for the songs we play live, but I'm not sure where we stand with a recording of a live performance that is then used in a film/TV programme etc. Do we as a band need to obtain any specific licences, permissions for that? The release form from the production company is asking for confirmation that we have all consents and permissions in place from third parties, so obviously I want to understand all that before we sign anything. Thanks in advance for any insights you can share!
PS although we weren't asked beforehand if we agreed to being filmed we are OK with it!
Recording of live performance of cover songs
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UKSoulSinger
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Re: Recording of live performance of cover songs
Hi UKSoulSinger and welcome to the forum,
On the assumption that the venue had the correct PRS licence to cover your performance, then that was legal. However the venue licence is unlikely to have covered any of the other elements which are part of the songwriter's basket of rights such as sync rights and grand rights. It would be necessary to get permission before your performance of the song(s) could be broadcast or used in a film. That isn't your responsibility as the performers; the production company need to chase that up with the song's writers or their publishers.
All you are able to authorise is the recording and exploitation of your performance - performers don't get sync rights unless they also wrote the music/song they are performing.
On the assumption that the venue had the correct PRS licence to cover your performance, then that was legal. However the venue licence is unlikely to have covered any of the other elements which are part of the songwriter's basket of rights such as sync rights and grand rights. It would be necessary to get permission before your performance of the song(s) could be broadcast or used in a film. That isn't your responsibility as the performers; the production company need to chase that up with the song's writers or their publishers.
All you are able to authorise is the recording and exploitation of your performance - performers don't get sync rights unless they also wrote the music/song they are performing.
Advice or comment provided here is not and does not purport to be legal advice as defined by s.12 of Legal Services Act 2007
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UKSoulSinger
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Re: Recording of live performance of cover songs
Hi! Thanks so much for replying. You've confirmed what I suspected was the position, which is really helpful, thanks again. Our venue has its PRS licence, so we are happy with that side of things (it's a regular gig for us). But the filming and possible broadcast came as a total surprise post-event! Really appreciate you taking the time to reply.