Weddings/Events "On-Demand" via Vimeo

[Tim Bakland]

Anyone out there thinking they might use this?

https://vimeo.com/creatorservices

I only very quickly took a peek. Would music from sites such as SongFreedom be legal in this capacity?

[Noa Put]

Would music from sites such as SongFreedom be legal in this capacity?

Not if you live in Belgium and I"m not sure which other EU countries have the same issue, they claim to have worldwide synch rights (to create the video) but not necessarily the streaming rights. If I use a song which they claim to have full rights on there is still a big possibility I still have to license the song again in Belgium but I"m sure it won't be that cheap anymore...

[Nigel Barker]

Originally Posted by Noa Put

Not if you live in Belgium and I"m not sure which other EU countries have the same issue, they claim to have worldwide synch rights (to create the video) but not necessarily the streaming rights. If I use a song which they claim to have full rights on there is still a big possibility I still have to license the song again in Belgium but I"m sure it won't be that cheap anymore...

We just purchased our first song from SongFreedom & they certainly claimed to have worldwide streaming rights:-

SongFreedom has obtained worldwide licensing rights but every once in a while there may be territorial issues. The only existing issue as of 10/29/12 is the inability for those in German territories to post videos using music on YouTube due to a currently unresolved disagreement between GEMA and YouTube.

I wouldn't have paid $30 unless it was for streaming rights as the MCPS LM licence that we can get here in the UK costs a fraction of that for discs.

BTW I was surprised that SongFreedom have quite a few 'proper' commercial hit records available. Colbie Caillat's "Brighter Than The Sun" is a great bouncy pop tune for a highlights video.

[Noa Put]

I have a confirmation on mail Nigel from Songfreedom that confirms what I say, back then it was in regard to the song Secrets from One Republic which they first claimed to me that they had full rights, I had to pay only 25 dollar and could use the song as long as I like. Then I went to Sabam, Belgian society of authors, composers and publishers and they told me Songfreedom was lying. If I would use that song I still had to pay Sabam but that would be a very high amount because it was a known group.

When I went back to Songfreedom with that info they suddenly changed their story a bit that there where difficulties in certain countries and they would come back to me in regard to that but never did. They did refer to Gema and youtube but that had nothing to do with the rights for that one republic song.

[Nigel Barker]

OK, but I think it best if I don't enquire whether SongFreedom are lying or not. As far as I am concerned I have done the right thing & have the attached documents to prove it.

[Noa Put]

That should be the way to purchase music but unfortunately getting properly licensed music is sometimes a bit like russian roulette. I always contact Sabam in case of doubt and this time a very popular song did ring some bells,

Songfreedom was very clear to me I had nothing to worry about untill I confronted them with what Sabam claimed and then they changed their story, I don't trust Songfreedom one bit. That license certificate is worthless in such a case. I"m sure many users never had a issue with their songs but you know how it goes in the music industry, as long as you don't wake any sleeping dogs your ok untill one wakes up. Why do you think so many videos on vimeo have popular music songs that I"m sure are not licensed properly and no-one seems to care about that, even vimeo.

[Nigel Barker]

Here in the UK we have no problem licensing any music for wedding videos for a very modest price as long as it delivered on a physical medium e.g. Blu-ray, DVD, USB etc It's the streaming on a website that is difficult. There is plenty of good production music available from people like Smartsound that can be used online but sometimes it's nice to have something a bit more recognisable.

[Tim Bakland]

OK -- so although the music rights thing is an interesting issue, I probably should elaborated in my post. Yes, I'm curious about SongFreedom's being legal or not on the new Vimeo "on demand", but I guess what I **really** am interested in is whether any wedding/events folks are planning on using the Vimeo ON DEMAND as a way to make money off of wedding highlights.

[Nigel Barker]

Our wedding highlights videos are probably our best sales tool so the idea of charging people to view them would be nuts. So my answer is "No, we will not be using the Vimeo ON DEMAND as a way to make money off of wedding highlights"

[Noa Put]

Besides the couple, who would pay to see the wedding highlights? That on demand thing is more for short films or maybe stock footage?