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Copyright Issues When Using Music in Videos By Barry S. Britt

Do you remember many years ago when trying to produce a video for your school took several thousand dollars worth of elaborate and bulky video equipment to make it happen? Now here we are in 2008, and with a very inexpensive digital video camera and some free software, you, yes even you can produce, publish and broadcast your video around the world – how exciting! And yet, how scary. I’ve attended many conferences and workshops where attendees learn to use the latest and greatest technology and are encouraged to incorporate their favorite songs in videos to make their production more captivating. After all, every great video needs music, and any that do not use audio for enhancement lack in professional quality. And this is the scary part – when a teacher or student uses a chosen piece of popular music in his or her video. In some cases based on hear-say, we as educators instruct them to use only 30 seconds or less of copyrighted music material so as not to infringe on copyright, and this is an issue. What are the problems? #1. Background music is not viewed as educational use. Just because you’re producing a video at your school does not mean that the copyrighted music content is for educational purposes. It is ancillary. In following the Fair Use Guidelines, music that is applicable to education would be that which is directly related to your course content. For example, if you are studying classical music and want to use Mozart’s “Sonata in A Major” as an example for your students, then this is considered educational use. Or, if you’re studying the politics of the 60’s, and want to share how rock music reflected the times through poetry, then you may use a portion of the Beatles “Revolution” to educate your students. Both of these examples demonstrate educational and relevant uses of music. (The key word here is “relevant”). #2. Posting a video to a network or public website which...