NotaPushyMum.Com

I have real issues with intellectual property - so I insist on buying tracks officially. I assume (maybe incorrectly - but don't burst my bubble) that the places DD performs have a license of some sort to allow the children to perform.

But anyway (rightly or wrongly) she wants to sing the Elephant Love Medley from Moulin Rouge - so where do I get a copy which only has the male voice on it?

I've never used this company, but they may be able to help you.

http://www.londonarrangements.com/default.asp

Thanks Moonshine, I managed to find a karaoke version with just the male voice

DD is taking it so seriously (I think it's weird song to sing)

Please don't take this badly, but I'm a member of both PRS and PPL - mainly because I produce music for theatre and video, and the entire issue of intellectual property is a real mess. Schools, Colleges and Universities, let alone auditions rarely do it properly, and being honest, even trying to do it properly as you are doing rarely works. Almost certainly the karaoke version you have obtained will have small print preventing use in certain circumstances. Theatres frequently buy sound effects CDs - the BBC range is excellent, yet every one includes a copyright statement saying no public performances are allowed! Why would you want a CD of sound effects?

A colleague and I have been producing piano versions to be used for auditions where a proper pianist isn't possible and we can't do it properly without it being very expensive. Pretty well the view of the music producing community is that objections and often anger are directed at those who take advantage and avoid paying what is 'right' - but I know very few people who have a problem with auditions and such like. Plenty of dance studios have a PRS license (and some the PPL one too, but that's another story) - but these licenses usually deal with playing music to the public. If the kids in the dance school are NOT 'the public' - then they must for their shows TO the public pay additional fees, but most assume their ordinary license covers it. Every school and college play DVDs, yet almost every one has the statement at the start saying they cannot be played to schools, colleges, prisons, oil rigs etc. They assume that because it's 'educational' it's ok - but it isn't.

If you buy a book of music from the shows, arranged for piano and voice - some even have copyright restrictions preventing you from using them. You can't photocopy them either - that's another restriction.

London Arrangements are very good - but they are often the kind of firm that big names use to arrange their popular songs for performance or recording. Sometimes this means that they can be expensive - or cheap, depending on what the music is.

Copyright is horribly complicated and so difficult to get right - the composer, the musicians, the record companies.

My own advice for this kind of thing is to get them custom made if you have the funds, because you can have them in your key, with different intros, and made shorter or longer. The karaoke versions vary so much in quality you need to hear before you buy.

Never assume there is a license in place. However, if you sing illegally in a venue, then they are the ones responsible, not usually the performer. Even getting advice from a non-specialist copyright legal expert is unlikely to be accurate - it's that complicated!

In most cases, the copyright holders rarely take a tough stance. EMI, for example, a few years ago told me to forget I'd asked, when I attempted to use one of their songs properly - the contract would have cost them more to prepare than they would have received, so although they wouldn't put it in writing, they just said "don't tell us". On the other hand, the owners of "sugar baby love" wanted paying for just the first 30 seconds or so of that song in a medley!

I think as long as you try to do the right thing, that's perhaps good enough nowadays
Paul

most interesting reply, paulears

some years ago, a group of us were discussing what a school could do if it was given notice that copyright inspectors were going to audit it (they do, very occasionally) and the only viable course of action seemed to be....







torch the school

Oh dear that sounds very complicated