Adrienne #1!
The pinnacle of life.
[if you don't see the video, try here]
Originally the video had a better soundtrack that used two short excerpts from copyrighted songs from albums that I purchased several years ago. Since the use of short excerpts of a copyrighted song in a non-commercial video made available on a personal website is highly controversial under copyright law, I deleted my original soundtrack and replaced it with the present one.
Given that I spent significant time to make this video, I would have been willing to spend a small amount of money to get rights for non-commercial use of the song excerpts in a video posted only on my personal blog. One song used words and melody from "Happy Birthday," which itself is a copyrighted work. Not sure how to sort that one out.
The website of the group that recorded the other song had a FAQ on song use that pointed fans to a licensing site. The licensing regime is very complex. In addition, the licensing site notes, "EMI does not allow their songs or recordings to be used on the Internet in any form." The licensing body encourages potential customers to send them a written proposal. It explains:
Due to the high volume of requests, the amount of research involved as well as the various levels of approval your request will have to go through, it may take 4 to 5 weeks for you to receive your license, which will be sent regular mail. We are unable to respond directly to each request as they come in. Rest assured, we will process your request as quickly as possible.
Of course they will. That's why they use regular (snail) mail!
Telephone companies could teach music licensing bodies a lot about customer service.
Tags: alchemy, copyright, gold, happy birthday, piracy