How long does it take...

[Robert Benda]

Originally Posted by Chris Harding

I don't think anybody really knows for sure what the situation is if you are filming the bride and groom dancing to music played by the DJ ... it has always been a messy situation with no-one really knowing if the venue needs to pay a licence fee, and/or the DJ and/or the videographer !!! It really becomes a ridiculous situation at the best of times with many people involved in the process who should/could be viable for playing commercial music.

In the United States, the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America, who sue the pants off people for sharing a song online) has stated (in an issue of MobileBeat magazine several years ago) that a DJ at a private function, not open to the public, like a wedding dance does not need a license to play music. Anytime it's in public, they do. However, standard practice is for the venue/bar to already have a license that covers anyone playing there, or the jukebox, for that matter.

Not that it helps on the videography side of things.