Licensing Info:
Most samplists can't afford to license their samples. Sometimes the entity maintaining the copyright can really shake you down for a lot of loot. Sometimes there are too many samples to license. But don't give up completely. You'll have a tough time licensing your sampling work for TV, film and video games if your samples aren't cleared.

Pros and Cons : The problem is, as you know, once you contact a publisher or artist, they're on to you. A friend of mine once descibed it as, "Returning stolen merchandise and asking to pay for it." So, what to do. That's up to you. Here's what can happen if you don't license though. First, you and/or your label can be sued for upwards of $250,000, if not more, depending upon their damages. Keep in mind, the law frowns upon intentional infringement more than accidental infringement. Second, even if they never find you out, if you ever get sampled by someone and want to sue, you have to prove in court that you have a valid copyright in the original recording. If you sample without a license, then, technically, you don't have a valid copyright and will probably not win any lawsuits. Anyone can take your beats! Then again, they can get sued by whomever you sampled.

On the other hand, even if you do license your samples or make overtures to license, you can still have problems. Take The Verve, for example. In "Bittersweet Symphony", they sampled an orchestrated version of The Rolling Stones' "Last Time". They licensed the sample from the Stones. Once the song got popular, the Stones sued them because the sample was too prominent in the song, which violated their licensing agreement. When the song was nominated for a Grammy, Keith Richards and Mick Jagger were named as the nominees. To make matters worse, they also were sued by the guy who owned the recording rights to the orchestrated version. Also refer to Newton v. Diamond, wherein the Beastie Boys licensed the sound recording right to a flute sample but were still sued for violating the composition rights. (They won though.)

Read Horror Stories of Sample Licensing for More

Read Artists' Quotes on Sampling & Licensing for More

Want to have some fun? There are two major licensors of music in America. ASCAP and BMI. You can pretty much bet that the guy you're sampling is affiliated with one or the other. So, try this for fun: Go to ASCAP's ACE Search and type in the title of the song or performer you're sampling. You'll most likely get an address of who the publisher or administrator of the copyright is. Then you can call them, blow your cover, and ask how much it would cost to license that Herb Alpert lick. For more fun, also try Songfile, BMI, which doesn't always work for some reason, and Music Publishers Association.

Also check out these entities which are in the business of licensing media:

BZ/ Rights and Permissions Inc.
Barbara Zimmerman
President
121 West 27th St., Suite 901
NY, NY 10001
phone: 212-924-3000
fax: 212-924-2525
e-mail: bz@bzrights.com
http://www.bzrights.com

Clearance Consultants
10669 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90025
310-441-2600
Contact: Jeanne Fay and Jody Silverman

Copyright Clearinghouse, Inc.
405 Riverside Drive
Burbank, CA 91506
Phone: 818-558-3480
Fax: 818-558-3474
Contact: Anita Hunsaker, Vice President,
Ron Gertz, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer

Copyright Music and Visuals
67 Portland St., 1st Floor, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5V 2M9
416-979-3333
Contact: John R. Ciccone, President

Diamond Time LTD. 73 Spring st., Suite 504, New York, NY 10012
212-274-1006
Contact: Cathy Carapella, Vice President of Operation
Essex Entertainment Inc.
144 2nd Ave. North, Suite 150, Nashville, TN 37201
615-244-9305
Contact: Cheryl Melton

Deborah Mannis-Gardner
DMG
13 Robin Lane
Hockessin, Del. 19707
Tel. 302-239-6337
deborah@dmgclearance.com

Arlene Fishbach Enterprises
1223 Wilshire Blvd., #304
Santa Monica, CA 90403
310 451-5916
Contact: Arlene Fishbach, President

Fricon Entertainment Co. Inc.
1048 S. Ogden Dr., Los Angeles, CA 90019-6501
213-931-7323
Contact: Gay DiFusco, Vice President

Evan M. Greenspan Inc.
11846 Ventura Blvd., Suite 140, Studio City, CA 91604
818-762-9656
Contact: Evan Greenspan, President

Media Rights Inc.
6100 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1500, Los Angeles, CA 90048
213-954-0181
Contacts: Melody Siroty, President
Scott Cruchley, Vice President

Jill Meyers Music Consultants
10669 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90025
310-441-2604
Contacts: Jill Meyers, Bonnie Greenberg, Partners

Powerplay
11227 Babbitt Ave., Granada Hills, CA 91344
818-368-4018
Contacts: Angela Longo, Barry Ennis

Diane Prentice Music Clearance Inc.
8720 Woodley Ave., Suite 232, North Hills, CA 91343
818-830-1270
Contact: Diane Prentice, Vice President

Reel Music Ltd.
602 N. Harper Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90048
Contact: Robin Urdang, President

Screenmusic International
11684 Ventura Blvd.,Suite 850, Studio City, CA 91604
818-985-9997
Contact: Kelly Sweeney Walsh, Music Clearance Administrator

SIGNATURE SOUND, INC.
71 West 23rd Street
New York, NY 10010
Phone: 212 989-0011
Fax: 212 989-3576
Elliot Schrager, President
Dorothy Krantz, Executive VP

Sound Thinking
1534 N. Moorpark Rd., Suite 333, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360
805-495-3306 (phone and fax)
Contact: Cary Ginell

Harris Tulchin & Associates
Trident Center, 11377 West Olympic Blvd., Second Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90064-1663
Phone: 310.914.7979 -- Fax: 310.914.7927
Email: entesquire@aol.com -- Contact: Harris Tulchin

Suzy Vaughan Associates
2029 Century Park East, Suite 450, Los Angeles, CA 90067
310-556-1409 -- E-mail:suzyesq@primenet.com
Contact: Suzy Vaughan, President

The Winogradsky Co.
12408 Jolette Ave., Granada Hills, CA 91344
818-368-3538; fax: 818-366-1737
Contact: Steven Winogradsky, President
Email: 72301.435@compuserve.com

www.Ad-music.com
Yair Nitzani
Tel 972 3 561 7711
F 972 3 561 5665

Also check out:

• Copyright Clearance Center Online - providing automated rights clearance on the WWW
• Copyright Consultants - provides fast, accurate registration of copyrights for writers, artists and others, covering the entire entertainment community.
• Copyright Control Services - acts on behalf of it's clients to resolve issues of copyright infringement (piracy) of their clients' intellectual property taking place on the Internet and elsewhere.
• Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA) - the UK's reproduction rights organisation.
• Copyright Resource Company, LLC - Located in Washington, DC, we are familiar with and have direct access to all records in the Library of Congress' Office of Copyright and the Trademark Office.
• Dynamik Music Limited - international dance music licensing agents.
• Evan M. Greenspan, Inc. (EMG) - handles the permission process for music clearances in motion pictures, television, home video and multimedia.
• John W. Peterson Music Company - copyright administration company which manages the song catalog of John W. Peterson as well as a small group of other composer/writers.
• Kohn On Music Licensing
• MPI Clearance Services - obtains music licenses, celebrity releases, film clip and stock footage agreements, and copyright/title/trademark reports.
• National Creative Registry Online - offers complete writer's registration services; you can protect your original work in minutes, right from your computer.
• Parker Music Group - offers music, copyright and song clearance services and licensing for all media.
• Protecrea - online works certification center.
• Shinwon Agency - arranges contracts between Korean publishers and foreign authors, agents, and publishers.

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