AV News 177 - August 2009
If they are a member of the Royal Photographic Society or the Photographic
Alliance of Great Britain they might have gone out and purchased the MCPS
and the BPI licences - the only ones that are available to non IAC members at
a cost of £8.54, believing that this is all they need.
Unfortunately what this really means is that the producer can add a part or
the whole track of a commercial recording to their project - but then they do not
have the necessary permission to show their beloved work of art to anyone
deemed to be the 'PUBLIC' - by definition that is to no-one outside their
immediate family!!! How many authors would just want to do that?
There are even more complications with those authors who wish to purchase
the two available licences as members of PAGB affiliated clubs. Why?
Well, the constitution of the PAGB states 'Clubs are affiliated to the
Photographic Alliance of Great Britain through their 'area' Federation - so the
clubs are members of the Federation - but it is the 15 Federations that are the
actual members of the PAGB!!! This means that individual members and
maybe even clubs are not covered by these licences.
Royal Photographic Society members are different in that they are actual
members of that Society.
In conclusion you can see that this is a typical legal minefield.
Unless the RPS and the PAGB are willing and able to negotiate a new
agreement with the IAC on behalf of their respective memberships, to include
the PPL Licence, then to ensure that they are fully covered, individual authors
should maybe consider becoming members of the IAC. The cost of this is
presently £37.50 per year with a reduction for the over 65's, but with the
subscription members also receive the bi-monthly copies of 'Film and Video
Maker', the IAC 'in-house' magazine. Once they become members they will
also have to purchase the three licences for an additional £7.17 and then it is
just a matter of abiding by all the conditions that are attached to each licence
and they should be fully protected from any legal action.
I hope that this article has made things a little clearer and I thank Pam
Harrison Administrative Secretary at the IAC and Gerald Mee FACI ARPS, the
IAC Music Copyright Adviser, for all their help.
Understanding Audio - A
T u to ria l C D -R O M
H o w a rd G re g o ry
Most AV and video workers are primarily photographers who naturally have a
greater affinity with the picture side of our hobby. Technical and artistic quality
are just as important in the audio side of things. We don't accept out-of-focus
pictures; we shouldn't accept poor quality audio. We mark down badly
composed pictures; we should treat badly assembled soundtracks likewise.
Every process and every trick you've ever learned in photography has an
equivalent in audio. Cast your mind back to when you attended your first
photo competition. You may have had difficulty seeing all the features that
the judge seemed to regard as so important. Over the years you absorbed,
from books, lectures or chats over a cup of coffee, all sorts of useful tips from
fellow photographers.
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