Copyright Laws

In our opening scene, our group has decided that we want to play some music to 'go-along' with our story line to create tension and a sinister atmosphere. 

As a group we were deciding on songs that we could include in our opening scene, such as 'Crazy In Love' by Beyonce. However, we then realised that we would need copyright to use that song. In our situation, this would be impossible. 

Although we realised that we could not use that song, we still need to know what we can and cannot use for our coursework for it to be legal. 

Having researched copyright laws and what you can and cannot do, I have found out that for music, if the song/piece has been copyrighted or 'owned' by the artist, producer etc. then so are the lyrics, scores, recordings etc. 

For sound recordings, the work is no longer copyrighted from 50 years after the song/work was created at the end of that annual year. For example, if a song was created and released in May 1950, then the copyright on that song would end at the end of December 2000. Therefore, the song is no longer 'protected' and those who wish to use that song may do so without asking for permission from the artist. 

According to the Copyright Service UK is considered illegal and an offense if you do any of these acts without the permission from the owner:

• Copy the work
• Rent, lend or issue copies of the work to the public
• Perform, broadcast or show the work in public
• Adapt the work

As a result of these laws, we must either find songs which are not copyrighted or find a song which is copyrighted and can easily contact the owner of the song and gain their permission to include their song in our opening scene.