UniqueTracks is now distributing the Blastwave FX line of SFX libraries on hard drive. These multi-gigabyte libraries are the ultimate creative palette for media professionals in post, broadcast, film, commercial television, video games, interactive and beyond.
There are four Hard Drive products:
SONOPEDIA - The Encyclopedia of SFX
With 20,000 royalty-free HD sound effects ranging from Alligators to Zippers, SONOPEDIA is the first all-purpose professional sound effects library for high definition media production.
.wavFX- SFX Production Suite
Think of it as your go-to “Swiss Army Knife” of royalty-free HD sound! .wavFX is perfect for anyone in post, broadcast, film, television, video games, interactive and beyond. This is a Greatest Hits type of compilation package that takes the premium elements from Blastwave’s main SFX releases.
TITLEWAV - The massive all-in-one SFX library
Introducing the most massive collection of royalty-free HD production elements ever assembled under one title - TITLEWAV. This enormous collection includes categories like Beats, Hits, Whooshes, Logos, Special Effects, Trailers, Distortions, Drones, Voice Overs and much more.
THE BLASTDRIVE - The Mega SFX Library
It’s the whole shebang! The Blastdrive contains every sound effect from Blastwave’s extension catalog of production elements. The Blastdrive combines Sonopedia and Titlewav to form a momumental sound effects library.
On June 2nd, the judge in the copyright infringement case Yoko Ono brought against the creators of the film “Expelled” for their use of John Lennon’s song Imagine has ruled in favor of the filmmakers based on a the “fair use” doctrine.
U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein rule that “the doctrine provides that the fair use of a copyrighted work for purposes of criticism and commentary is not an infringement of copyright.”.
You can read the judges entire decision here. Those interested in the fair use doctrine should take the time to read the judges opinion because he very thoughtfully describes and then rules on each of the criteria that make up fair use.
The Purpose and Character of the Use
The Nature of the Copyrighted Work
The Amount and Substantiality of the Portion Used in Relation to the Copyrighted Work as a Whole
The Effect of the Use Upon the Potential Market for or Value of the Copyrighted Work
The judge’s decision seemed mainly to rest on a subsection of “The Purpose and Character of the Use”, namely Transformative Use. Here is the ruling.
ii. Transformative Use
A work is transformative if it does not “merely supersede[] the objects of the original
creation” but “instead adds something new, with a further purpose or different character, altering the first with new expression, meaning, or message.” Although transformative use “is not absolutely necessary for a finding of fair use, the goal of copyright, to promote science and the arts, is generally furthered by the creation of transformative works.” Thus, transformative works “lie at the heart of the fair use doctrine’s guarantee of breathing space within the confines of copyright.”
There is a strong presumption that this factor favors a finding of fair use where the allegedly infringing work can be characterized as involving one of the purposes enumerated in 17 U.S.C. § 107: “criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching . . ., scholarship, or research.”
Defendants’ use is transformative because the movie incorporates an excerpt of “Imagine” for purposes of criticism and commentary. The filmmakers selected two lines of the song that they believe envision a world without religion: “Nothing to kill or die for/ And no religion too.” As one of the producers of “Expelled” explains, the filmmakers paired these lyrics and the accompanying music to a sequence of images that “provide a layered criticism and commentary of the song.” The Cold War-era images of marching soldiers, followed by the image of Stalin, express the filmmakers’ view that the song’s secular utopian vision “cannot be maintained without realization in a politicized form” and that the form it will ultimately take is dictatorship. The movie thus uses the excerpt of “Imagine” to criticize what the filmmakers see as the naïveté of John Lennon’s views.
Conclusion Regarding Fair Use
The balance of factors clearly favors a finding of fair use. Defendants’ use of “Imagine” is transformative because their purpose is to criticize the song’s message. Moreover, the amount and substantiality of the portion used is reasonable in light of defendants’ purpose. Although “Imagine,” as a creative work, is at the core of copyright protection, and defendants’ use of the song is at least partially commercial in nature, the weight of these factors against a finding of fair use is limited given that defendants’ use is transformative. Finally, plaintiffs have not shown that defendants’ use will usurp the market for licensing the song for non-transformative purposes. In sum, allowing defendants’ use would better serve “the copyright law’s goal of promoting the Progress of Science and useful Arts . . . than [would] preventing it.”
–
Ono’s position had been that she had the right to control use of the song by reviewing and choosing licenses. She also had the right to reject uses of the song. She brought the suit because she believe the filmmakers had “looted her of the ability to do so”.
Yoko Ono’s attempt to get an injunction against the film “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.” will shine a much needed light on current interpretations of the “fair use” provision of copyright law. Fair use is easily the haziest and least understood aspect of US copyright law.
Yoko Ono (and EMI and Capital Records) is seeking to have about 15 seconds of John Lennon’s recording of Imagine removed from the film. The injunction doesn’t ask for the film to be removed from theaters, it is asking for Lennon’s music to be removed from the film.
Ono sued in state and federal court, accusing the movie’s producers of infringing on the song’s copyright by using parts without her permission.
The movie, which opened on U.S. screens in April and is set for release in Canada on June 6 and on DVD in October, presents a sympathetic view of intelligent design, the theory that the universe is too complex to be explained by evolution alone.
The filmmakers acknowledge they did not ask Ono for permission to use 15 to 20 seconds of the song. But they argue they are protected by the ”fair use” doctrine, which permits small parts of a copyrighted work to be used without an author’s permission under certain circumstances.
At a hearing in U.S. District Court in Manhattan this week, the filmmakers’ lawyer, Anthony T. Falzone, said that if the judge granted Ono’s request for an injunction against the film, it would ”muzzle” the filmmakers’ free-speech rights.
Falzone said the segment of the song in the film — ”nothing to kill or die for, and no religion too” — was central to the movie because ”it represents the most popular and persuasive embodiment of this viewpoint that the world is better off without religion.”
The film, he said, is ”asking if John Lennon was right and it’s concluding he was wrong.”
[Sidenote] Actually I don’t think John Lennon was saying in Imagine that the world would be better off without religion, I think he was saying that people get tied to their own particular beliefs and by doing so a lot of trouble is created in the world. Imagine is about breaking out of boundaries that are created by oneself.[end Sidenote]
The filmmakers’ attorney, Anthony Falzone is the executive director of the Fair Use Project and a lecturer in law at Stanford University. He believes very strongly that copyright law, as it stands now, is in major need of reform. You can read his brief in this case here.
I notice that Mr. Falzone is associated with the Center for Internet and Society at Standford Law School. This is not surprising. A large faction of those that work and think about the Internet (Wired, Fast Company) would like to broaden current interpretations of copyright law and especially fair use.
Getting to a contemporary interpretation of fair use is incredibly important because of the use or misuse of copyrighted work on the Internet. Part of YouTube’s main defense against Viacom will be arguing fair use (amongst other things like DMCA).
Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include —
(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;
(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.
I’ve been writing about music clearance but the act of getting the legal permissions to use copyrighted content in your production applies not just to musical works but to art and literary works as well. Not taking the time to get the appropriate licensing can land you in legal trouble as ESPN has just found out.
Last year ESPN broadcast “The Bronx Is Burning”, a popular TV series created by their in-house production company ESPN Original Entertainment. The series portrayed the background events leading to the 1977 New York Yankees dramatic World Series run.
Included in the second episode, “Team In Turmoil“, was a full screen shot of Norman Rockwell’s painting “Bottom of the Sixth“. The painting depicts three umpires looking skyward as raindrops begin to fall. It is a classic Rockwell capturing a unique and wonderful baseball moment. The original painting hangs in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.
On May 3rd, the Associated Press reported that ESPN is being sued by Curtis Publishing Company, the owner of the Rockwell painting, for using the image without obtaining a license.
Curtis sent an e-mail to ESPN lawyers notifying them that ESPN did not have a license to use the painting and was committing willful copyright infringement, the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit seeks to bar ESPN from rebroadcasting the series until it withdraws use of the painting. In other words, until it removes any footage of the painting from the episode.
Compounding the problem for ESPN is that The Bronx Is Burning has been sold on DVD and VHS format. Recalling the unsold copies and destroying them and having to issue a new movie with the infringement removed will prove costly for the cable network.
UniqueTracks has added four brand new sound effects sets from Blastwave FX to our growing collection of royalty free Sound Effects products.
Podcaster
Podcaster has everything you need to produce a professional podcast. Add music or just a beat loop to your intro and immediately give a focus to the theme of your show. With over 500 sound effects (Animals, Cartoon Effects, Crashes, Human Effects, Vehicles, Weapons and more), this set will let you underscore the humerous, contentious and exciting moments of your podcast.
WebTones
If you design and create professional Flash productions or web sites, then you will want to add this large assortment of multimedia sounds to your production toolbox. The WebTones collection features 1000 unique buttons, clicks, rollovers, pings, beeps, hits and production elements that can easily be plugged into your next production. This collection will provide you with the tools you need to add sonic life to your virtual creations.
Spoilers - Movie Trailer Sound Beds
If you’ve ever wondered where to find those great sonic effects that Hollywood post production editors lay into movies, trailers and commercials, look no further. This incredible set by Blastwave FX will amp-up your production with the latest, most modern audio effects available on the royalty free market. This collection, on 4 DVDs, has 300 stereo movie trailers and compositions with matching 5.1 surround files, plus 200 high impact stereo imaging elements.
Drones
Using long, sustained, audio drone effects is one of the most effective ways of using sound to build drama and interest in a media production. The material contained in the 4 DVD set Drones by Blastwave FX is specially made to give your production a professional, Hollywood-caliber sheen. In total, this collection has over 10 hours of unique sound effects in stereo and 5.1 Surround Sound.
Blastwave FX develops next-generation HD sound effects libraries for professional audio production. Their design and engineering team constantly pushes the sound envelope with innovative product formats, rich metadata, multi-channel libraries and the highest resolution audio that technology allows.
The latest issue of UniqueTracks’ newsletter features an article I wrote that defines Music Clearance - the act of getting the permissions necessary to use music in your production. It also recommends some companies that will handle your music clearance problems when attempting to license a famous or even an obscure recording.
All Clear?
Music Clearance and Music Licensing
Every few weeks or so I’ll get a phone call with an inquiry that goes something like this…
I’d like to use Elvis Presley’s recording of ‘Don’t Be Cruel’ in my film. Can you help me do that?
Regretfully, beyond recommending some other companies to investigate, I am not much help in this regard. Though licensing music is our core business, UniqueTracks only licenses recordings that we have created in-house or that we control the publishing rights to.
What these folks are looking for is a firm that will do “music clearance” work for them. Yes, there are companies you can turn to when you are looking to obtain music licensing rights but have no idea where to turn. These companies will help you acquire the rights to use famous songs but they are even better at finding the rights for obscure songs. Music clearance companies are experts at finding the needle-in-the-haystack information that will eventually track down the song you’re interested in. They will then act as your advocate with the publisher and record company to try and get you the best pricing available.
Just wanted to mention that I’ll be at NAB this year in Las Vegas. We don’t have a booth but I’ll be wandering the floor looking at the orgy of new gear. If you’ll be there and would like to hook up for a latte or beverage of your choice, please let me know.
Democratization of content
Democratization of information
Democratization of media
I’m noticing more and more use of the term “democratization” in articles about the media business.
The term is especially popular in discussions about social media. Social media, a relatively new term, has come to mean those Internet tools that facilitate the “wisdom of the crowd” model where meaning and value are derived through mass collaboration. Examples of social media sites would be such Web 2.0 stars as Wikipedia, Myspace, Facebook Digg, Flikr and Youtube.
Here’s an example from an article by Brian Solis, the owner of the Silicon Valley public relations firm FutureWorks PR.
Social Media is the democratization of content and the understanding of the role people play in the process of not only reading and disseminating information, but also how they share and create content for others to participate. It is the shift from a broadcast mechanism to a many-to-many model, rooted in a conversational format between authors and people.
Democratization, as I understood it, had to do with an authoritarian government moving towards a less oppressive, more open society. When applied to media or content, democratization has come to mean a move away from a perceived old and authoritarian media - the major TV networks, film studios, record companies and newspapers - towards a seemingly less oppressive, personally created environment provided by web technology where content is readily available, is free, and can be delivered based on ones likes and dislikes or even the likes and dislikes of one’s network of friends.
We are naturally attracted to words like democracy or democratization in the United States. It’s in our blood. We learn early on that democracy represents freedom. So when democracy is applied to terms like media and information, it’s easy to believe that this must be a good and positive thing.
My own feeling is that democratization can’t realistically be applied to information at all. By casting the media as authoritarian, the term can be used politically by those technologists who are trying to wrest power away from the established media towards their new Web 2.0 innovations.
Content is evaluated on quality, on how well it informs, entertains, teaches or illuminates truths. Using “popularity” as its measure is to greatly misrepresent it.
I enjoyed this blog post by Andrew Keen, author of last year’s controversial book The Cult of the Amateur. He points out in his blog post The end of the middle that democratization of media is in fact a falsehood and that, in reality, wealth and power are just being reallocated to new companies like Google, YouTube, Facebook etc.
Target Corporation has been using the Beatles classic Hello Goodbye in its recent TV advertising. One spot aired during last Sunday’s Grammy Awards broadcast. They have changed the word Goodbye to Good Buy morphing the song’s refrain into an ad slogan “Hello Good Buy, Hello Good Buy, Hello Good Buy….” The campaign is “Say Hello to Good Buys at Target”.
Hello Goodbye is a song from the Beatles Magical Mystery Tour album and was a number 1 hit for the Beatles in both the US and UK in 1967.
Licensing classic songs is attractive to advertisers (those with deep enough pockets) because they can then begin to trade on the cultural significance of the song. Hello Goodbye is part of the soundtrack for a whole generation (or more). By licensing the song, advertisers leverage this collective, accumulated experience channelling it to sell merchandise. But does our culture (do we) pay a price for this?
Loading ...
There are several spots using Hello Goodbye. Each has a different musical style or arrangement. Here is one version taken from YouTube.
UniqueTracks, a provider of royalty-free media production tools, including music soundtracks, sound effects and animated backgrounds, is happy to announce the release of 2 new royalty free classical music 4-volume CD packs. These new series concentrate on music from the Romantic Era of classical music (from 1820 - 1890).
19th Century Pack Vol. 2 This set includes works of French masters like Gabriel Fauré (Requiem), Hector Berlioz (Symphonie Fantastique), Claude Debussy (Prelude to an Afternoon of the Faun) and Erik Satie (Gymnopedie).
Other featured composers include Felix Mendelssohn (Scottish and Italian Symphonies), Franz Liszt (Faust Symphony and Hungarian Fantasy), Mussorgsky (Promenade from Pictures at an Exhibition) and Ottorino Respighi (Roman Trilogy).
Romantic Concerto 4-Volume Pack contains over 4 hours of orchestral music showcasing virtuosic solo performances for piano and violin.
The concertos featured here are part of the classical repertoire and continue to be performed to this day. Volumes include performances of
Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat Minor,
Grieg’s famous Piano Concerto in A minor,
Piano Concerto 1 & 2 by Franz Liszt,
Felix Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor and Piano Concerto No. 2 in D minor
Piano Concerto in A minor by Robert Schumann
Max Bruch’s beautiful Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor
Each single volume can be licensed separately. Each individual track can also be licensed and immediately downloaded in WAV or MP3 format.
I’ve come across a fine instructional text that would be very useful for any teacher currently involved with a school television or media production class. The 2 volume course is called Television Production: A Classroom Approach (the first volume is the Teacher’s Edition and the second volume is the Student Edition).
The books were written by two very experienced media specialists, Keith Kyker and Christopher Curchy, who have taught media production in the Florida school system for over 22 years. The text, now in its 2nd Edition, is used by many secondary schools as the main textbook for their courses in television production.
There is also an accompanying CD-ROM featuring editable PowerPoint presentations featuring concepts and illustrations from the chapters and ready-made, fully editable tests for each chapter.
Together, Keith and Chris have written six educational technology books for Greenwood - Libraries Unlimited, and host the popular web-site SCHOOLTV.COM. Additionally, they develop video production software, and have recently authored a DVD and CD-ROM to supplement their latest textbooks. Keith and Chris have presented to thousands of educators at more that 50 conferences and educational gatherings in 14 states.
More evidence that the commercial jingle is making a comeback can be found in Cablevision’s campy ad for its Optimum’s Triple Play service (High Speed Internet, Digital Cable TV & Digital Phone Services).
The jingle uses the dance style Reggaeton to create a fun, over-the-top spot that targets the urban, Latin American market. Reggaeton - a dance style that blends Jamaican reggae and dancehall with Latin American dance rhythms, hip hop and electronica - first gained popularity in Puerto Rico and Puerto Rican musicians and producers have spread the music to the U.S.
It’s a jingle. The music is original and was written specifically to underscore the important elements of Cablevision’s Optimum campaign. The catchiest part of it, and the part that seems to be resonating with viewers, is the chanting of the toll free phone number - the “8–7–7-3-9-3–4-4-4–EIGHT” part.
Here are some comments pulled from YouTube, Yahoo and other sites…
lmao i lovee that comerical.. its catchy lol.. i cant even memorize my boyfriends number that fast..
HAHAHAHA <3333
I Love this ssongg everyone sings it in school
When I was sick in bed this was the only thing that kept going through my head “877 393 444 EIIIIGHT!” I want to kill them.
This is GREAT!! Especially love when the hot mami’s sing,. “8–7–7-3-9-3–4-4-4–EIGHT!!!” Great!
there is no point to this video but i love it it is so funny!!!
When viewers are laughing and teasing each other with your commercial and the music, the jingle, has embedded your toll free number into their consciousness, then you have hit an advertising grand slam.
Yes there are negative comments about the commercial as well but they are mostly complaints about frequency. The ad is being shown a lot. It is currently bombarding the NYC market. But again, the frequency is probably driven by the ads apparent success.
I’ve been writing about jingles lately because I believe their power has been neglected by creatives at ad agencies. Jingles have an uncool or old-fashioned stigma and have, until recently, been ignored.
Taken individually, lifestyle spots, which typically license hit songs from the 1970s/80s/90s pop catalog as their soundtrack, seem creative and funny but they run into problems when watched one-after-another during a commercial break. The ads tend to blur together. Instead of shining a light on the product, the overall effect is weakened by a slew of similar approaches. Everyone is branding the same upbeat lifestyle. There is no product differentiation. The commercial goes to great lengths to keep viewers entertained but it forgets its actual purpose.
Jingles, on the other hand, get right to the point and directly sell your campaign.
audio+imaging, audio image, Blastwave FX, broadcasting technology, broadcast film, broadcast radio stations, filmmaking resource, film television, media production, music library, production elements, production music libraries, production music library, radio+imaging, radio production, royalty+free+music, royalty free, royalty free sound effects, royalty free stock, sfx, sfx libraries, sound+effects, sound+fx, sound effect, sound effects libraries, sound effects library, sound effects sound, sweepers, tv broadcast, uniquetracks, videography, video creation, video production, video products 
Loading ...