The Recording Industry Performance Singapore (RIPS) introduced a dedicated licence for wedding videographs early this year (read
here). Whilst all along, nobody paid anyone any licence fee for use of copyrighted music during a wedding function, this licence has certainly stirred sentiments within the local industry as well as amongst local wedding couples. From the responses that we've came across in forums and all the questions we've received from our couples, we realized that the general masses do not understand the workings behind this music licence thingy.
Hope we can help to clear up some doubts with what we know....
Some fundamentals about copyrighted music (i.e.music one buys from a CD shop)
1) every piece of music in the CD is an original artwork created by a) a composer, b) a lyricist, c) a recording company who employs a singer to sing in a studio and records it on CD for sales.
2) the composer, lyricist and the recording company each owns different kinds of rights to the music and wants to earn money from the music they create.
3) when one buys a music CD for say, $10, one only pays $10 for the right to enjoy the music on a personal basis. On the CD case, one can always find the words (or to a similar effect), "All rights of the producer and of the owner of the work reproduced reserved. Unauthorized copying, hiring, lending, public performance and broadcasting of this recording is prohibited." One agrees to these contractual terms automatically when one buys a music CD.
In other words, one cannot wilfully copy any music from that CD to another CD, then bring this duplicate CD to a hotel and broadcast the music to your relatives and friends at your wedding banquet as background music. Because if you do that, 500 of your relatives and friends will get to enjoy the music and the composer, lyricist and the recording company earn only a miserable $10 from you. They definitely need to earn more! Imagine their loss in opportunity cost if you were to put it on your website as background music. Anyone can just go to your website and keeping looping that music and enjoy it without paying a single cent!
THE REAL SITUATION
Scenario 1 - Playing of copyrighted music in the background at your wedding banquet.
Every respectable hotel in Singapore should have paid COMPASS (on an annual basis) for a licence to broadcast copyrighted music on their entire premises through their sound system. This will allow them to play music in their lobby, in their lounge, in their toilets, and of course, in their ballrooms during your wedding. So there is absolutely no problem in playing copyrighted music at your wedding banquet.
Scenario 2 - Playing of video clips or photomontages that uses copyrighted music
To produce the video/photomontage clip, the videographer/photographer has to copy the music from a CD and blend it together with the visual images to create the clip. To even use the music as an ingredient in the clip, the videographer/photographer needs to seek permission from the composer, lyricist and recording company. The composer, lyricist and recording company will usually not agree to let the videographer/photographer use the music they produced for free. They'll want to earn some money from it. They will quote the videographer/photographer a fee based on the estimated number of audience who will be enjoying the music, the number of copies produced, etc. Yes, they can quote any figure they individually want. When you sum up these 3 quotes, it becomes the licence fee. This fee only give the videographer/photographer 2 rights, a) the right to synchronise the music to his visual images, b) the right to make a physical copy on CD for playback at the hotel. They do not have to factor in the fee for broadcasting rights because the hotel has supposedly paid for it (as explained in Scenario 1).
The new music licence by RIPS
14 recording companies (such as Sony Music, Warner Music, etc) all come together to get RIPS to collect all kinds of music licence fees on their behalf. This includes the use of their music in TV commercials, in movies, at Karoake lounges, at outdoor events, etc. And now, from videographers/photographer for their video/photomontage clips. This licence fee, priced at $2000 per yr, enables a videographer/photographer to synchronise any music (from the 14 recording companies) to their video/photomontage works, and burn CD copies for wedding couples. The playback of these video/photomontage works is limited to wedding banquets and private viewing by the couples themselves. It does not permit the sharing of the video/photomontage on the internet domain for mass enjoyment.
So what about the composers and lyricists? Don't they want a share of the pie? Yes, they certainly do. They are represented by Music Publishers Singapore (MPS) who will collect licence fees on their behalf.
To date, MPS still working out a licence similar to that by RIPS for wedding. When they have finalised it, it will be another licence for videographers/photographers to subscribe to.
All these licences will inevitably increase the operating costs of all videographers/photographers. This cost will be factored into the package prices eventually. Hence do expected wedding videography prices to rise in the near future.
Here at Alvinadeline Weddings, we are already licenced by RIPS since April 1st 2010.
All our couples will not face any legal issues pertaining to their wedding video works produced by us. They can get married with a peace of mind.