WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES OF SCREENING THE FILM WITHOUT SECURING MUSIC RIGHTS?
U.S. Copyright Law provides that you can be sued by a music publisher and/or record label, for using their property without their consent. Considering that you will work more and more with publishing companies and record labels as your career moves forward, not clearing the rights in advance is not a very professional way of starting your relationships with them. Clearing the rights and having step deals in place will also help you in the event that a distributor is interested in buying your film. If your rights are not cleared, the distributor is looking at an unknown expense tied to your film, and this can be a deterrent in a distributor’s interest in acquiring an independent film.
