Background:
The use of music:
- in an advertisement 1
- as a premium or covermount 2
- in a theatrically released film or TV Documentary
- as theme music
- in an inhouse/internal training video
will require the permission and a licence from the copyright owner of the musical work & copyright owner of the sound recording.
1 An announcement designed to attract the attention of the public or any party of it to a product, service, person, organisation or line of conduct
2 A piece of music that is given away with a product to encourage purchase of that product or its use. Until recently this has generally meant covermount CDs on the front of magazines, although new technologies extend the concept of "premiums" to free ringtones and downloads of specific songs which can be redeemed through the purchase of a particular product or service
The provision of ownership information by APRA|AMCOS does not constitute an authorisation of any kind to use the musical work or sound recording in any manner whatsoever. Such authorisation may be obtained only from the owner or representative of the relevant rights.
This advice is based on information contained in APRA|AMCOS' works database. Copyright ownership information in APRA|AMCOS' works database is provided to APRA|AMCOS by its writer and publisher members. While APRA|AMCOS makes every effort to ensure the information in its works database is current, accurate and complete, in providing this advice APRA|AMCOS makes no representations, warranties or guaranties as to the currency, accuracy or completeness of any information contained in its works database. In some instances, copyright ownership information for a work may not reflect actual copyright ownership of a work, or may no longer be current. APRA|AMCOS recommends you confirm the content of this advice with the relevant copyright owner(s) before relying on it.
The APRA|AMCOS Copyright Ownership Information Service provides the following time frames:
- 1 – 5 works email response sent within 5 working days
- 6 – 10 works email response sent within 15 working days
- For 11 works or more, you are required to complete a Premium Research application, which is subject to payment of research fees.
Please complete a Standard or Premium request, depending on your needs:
Special notes:
APRA|AMCOS administered Licences
APRA|AMCOS may be able to provide you with a standard licence on behalf of our members, the copyright owners of the musical work. Please visit the following page to confirm whether an existing licence is suitable for your needs >>
Sound Recordings
There is a separate copyright in the sound recording of a song. This means that if you are reproducing (copying) recorded music, you will almost certainly need an additional licence from the owner of the sound recording, generally a record company.
The Australian Recording Industry Association may be able to assist you with this. Their number is 02 8569 1144 or you can visit their website at www.aria.com.au
Production Music
Production Music is music specifically written and recorded for inclusion in all forms of audio and audiovisual productions including adverts, films, DVDs, TV & radio programmes, websites, online games, music-on-hold and ringtones etc.
It offers an alternative to using commercially recorded music and it is available from APRA|AMCOS for convenient synchronisation or dubbing, and can provide an administratively simple and cost effective answer to your music needs. See Production Music