Hi Cary,

The students absolutely needed to obtain permission to perform this work. Even 
university orchestras or other performance ensembles purchase a blanket 
performing license when they obtain the score they intend to perform from. I 
suppose an argument could be made for their on-campus performances but 
off-campus performances need to be particularly attentive to licensing and 
permissions. Since it's already a done deal, though, you could still catalog it 
(without uploading to OCLC, keep it in the local catalog) and make the 
recording available for in-house use instead of circulating.... That has been 
the general consensus on similar queries to the Music Library Association 
listserv.

These might be useful resources for you:
http://www.mola-inc.org/pdf/MusicWePerform.pdf
http://copyright.musiclibraryassoc.org/Resources/FAQ (see the performance right 
section)
http://copyright.columbia.edu/copyright/fair-use/other-rights-of-use/ (see 
public display, displays and performances in face-to-face teaching, and 
displays and performances in distance education sections).

Hope this helps,
Best,
-lisa Hooper

Music & Media Librarian
Howard-Tilton Memorial Library
Tulane University
504.314.7822



From: [email protected] 
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Cary Jardine
Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2012 11:57 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [Videolib] Use of music in student productions

Dear list...I'm pretty sure I know the answer to this question but this is not 
really my forte so I'd love to hear from those whose forte it is!  Here's the 
situation:

Every spring, students in one of our programs put on a dance performance on our 
campus for students, staff, faculty, and I think anyone else who wants to drop 
in.  This year they also put on the performance in the evening at an off-campus 
venue, filmed it, and have now asked the library to make the DVD available for 
circulation.  I'm a reference librarian but also our cataloger and as I was 
watching the DVD to get some information about it for the catalog record, I saw 
the list of dances and the specific music (most of it current/modern/popular) 
that had accompanied each piece.  Of course now I'm wondering whether the 
students A, needed permission to use this music in this situation (I think so) 
and B, if so whether they actually obtained permission (I doubt it).  Here's my 
question:  should permission have been obtained for the music used in the 
performance, and if so should the library accept and circulate the DVD if 
permission was not obtained?

Thanks in advance for any advice.  I'm an avid reader of this list; you guys 
all know so much more about this stuff than I do!

Cary Jardine, MLS
Research and Instruction Librarian
Antioch University New England
Keene, NH  03431
603.283.2405<tel:603.283.2405>
[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>




VIDEOLIB is intended to encourage the broad and lively discussion of issues 
relating to the selection, evaluation, acquisition,bibliographic control, 
preservation, and use of current and evolving video formats in libraries and 
related institutions. It is hoped that the list will serve as an effective 
working tool for video librarians, as well as a channel of communication 
between libraries,educational institutions, and video producers and 
distributors.

Reply via email to