<p>My son submitted a music supplement to his colleges with the usual -- three varied selections, one concerto with an accompanist, two selections without. He will be a non-music major, but will keep his hand in music to a large degree.</p>
<p>He got a nice letter from one of the colleges who wants to use portions of his music supplement, along with a photo, in their admissions-sponsored events, to showcase the kinds of things their college offers and the kinds of things their students do.</p>
<p>It's flattering, and we think it's pretty cool! My son quickly signed the accompanying release form and was ready to submit it ... but then I suddenly erred on the side of caution and decided to check-in with violadad and others first ...</p>
<p>Is there any reason my son would NOT want to release the college to use his recordings and photo? The music is not his own. It's well-known classical music that he performs on the CD. It's not like he wrote the material. The release form allows the college to record his material, use his name (or any fictional name) and likeness, reproduce, distribute, and publicly display any of his recordings in part or in whole, amongst other things.</p>
<p>I'm figuring some of you have come across this before. Any downsides that we should consider? We're otherwise ready to sign. :)</p>
<p>The contract says “the perpetual, non-exclusive, royalty-free right and license to …” That sounds kind of like “future rights,” but obviously not exclusive future rights. Not to reveal my naivety or stupidity too much, but what problems might we/he encounter with “perpetual, non-exclusive” rights to some recordings by a high school senior? Is that different than “future rights?”</p>
<p>Wait a minute-- this is a college he’s applied to but has not been admitted to yet, or does not attend? Why do they want to use his work and his image to “to showcase the kinds of things their college offers and the kinds of things their students do”? That sounds very strange to me. Don’t they have any enrolled students to showcase?</p>
<p>I’m guessing the music itself is long out of copyright. I’m also guessing they will only use snippets. So what they’re asking is to be able to show future applicants the kind of thing they’re looking for. Congratulations to your son for being held up as an example.</p>
<p>Personally, I’d sign it. It’s not going to make him famous; neither is it going to rob him of future income. You won’t get anything out of it, but I don’t think you’ll lose anything either. On the other hand, free publicity is good.</p>
<p>If your son hasn’t been accepted yet, though, I’d bet an acceptance is on it’s way.</p>
<p>Miami’s string studio has an “ad” - not sure it it’s on the main website or facebook or what. It includes several different snippets of my D’s string quartet. As far as I know, no permission was asked or given, but that might be just part of the deal for being a student there. Either way, we had no problem with it.</p>
<p>Just my opinion; you do what you think is best.</p>
<p>Given that the music has been recorded previously, I am having a hard time coming up with a down side. Were it one your son’s compositions that had not been recorded, then there would be recording rights issues to consider. Once a piece has been publicly released on a recording, anyone else can make their own recording of the same piece by paying the person who holds the mechanical licensing rights a standardized amount of money. Until the first release, however, the person who holds the rights to that music can control when it is released or can sell those rights for the debut recording for whatever price they can get.</p>
<p>@glassharmonica, He HAS been accepted, but you’re right – he does not yet attend. And, if we can’t afford for him to attend (haven’t received FA yet), then he won’t. I am positive they have current students they can showcase. I don’t know why they want to showcase him. We were surprised, of course.</p>
<p>@binx, Yeah, it didn’t even cross our minds that he’d get anything out of it – no fame or fortune is expected, lol. But … well … it’s kind of cool. And the school is a totally awesome school. It’s also cool that your D’s string quartet is in Miami’s ads! Neat.</p>
<p>@Bassdad, that’s what I was thinking – what could be the downside? Particularly since there’s not really anything “original” about his recordings. He recorded some commonly known classical selections on his instrument. There’s nothing HE owns to lose … I think.</p>
<p>^^^Just wanted to report back that my son just submitted the release. It doesn’t seem like there’s anything to lose. Thanks to all for the advice and perspective! :)</p>
<p>I think it’s strange though, that a school would put a prospective student in the admissions materials, particularly if your son doesn’t even end up going there. I would be more concerned that this submission by your son is of higher quality than the work they currently have on campus (else, why wouldn’t they showcase a current, matriculated student’s work, and not a prospie’s?). That would make me concerned that your son might not find musically compatible peers at this institution.</p>
<p>I could be all wrong, and don’t see anything amiss with signing the release (alright, a small nagging doubt), but do wonder about the school’s need for this when they have their own music students, who are much older, and obstensibly more accomplished (based on age and experience). It just seems a little odd (but congrats to him anyway! He’s obviously talented!).</p>
<p>Coming in a bit late (sorry to disappoint), but I agree with what’s been said by those before me.</p>
<p>The music would appear to be within the common domain, and as such not subject to copyright or royalty.</p>
<p>The points for non-exclusive or future rights are well taken.</p>
<p>If the accompanied piece is to be included, then the accompanist should also be offered the right to sign a waiver/release.</p>
<p>I had the same thoughts glassharmonica had about using it without an acceptance, but you’ve clarified that. I also agree with binx that it could be a nice ego boost. But I do wonder if his submission was well above the norm of talent of their current peer group.</p>
<p>I do recall son signing (or at least me reading) a document concerning acceptance that upon matriculation his school retained all rights to performance recordings, photography of same and the ability of the school to use these for promotional and marketing materials without compensation. I also recall a couple of high level festivals where similar boilerplate was included when one signed the acceptance letter. And I have instilled in him the need to read boilerplate.</p>
<p>As an aside, son’s school was meticulous about guarding the artist’s rights for recorded performances of students. All performances were in fact recorded, and available at a ridiculously nominal fee to the students if they were part of the particular performing ensemble. As a parent, I could go into the music library and purchase a copy unless I had signed releases from all performers authorizing it. There were a number of son’s solo and chamber performances that we wanted for our library, so I gave him $200 for the complete set. He’s been out now 4 years this May. I’m still waiting… :mad:</p>
<p>I have to agree that it seems deceptive of the college to post something from someone who is not actually one of their students and making it seem to viewers that it represents the present caliber of students on campus. It seems unethical to me.</p>
<p>My son has been in several “recruiting” videos for drum corps, with all three corps he was required to sign some type of a release of his image/sound rights in any photograpy, video, or audio recordings made by the organization.</p>
<p>He actually gets a big kick out of the fact that people interested in drum corps are seeing HIM with three different corps, all the same year. He is actually only a member of one of them, but he auditioned at three, and somehow ended up in the recruiting videos for all three corps, despite the fact that hundreds of people auditioned at each of the corps. He was just in the right place at the right time. </p>
<p>He says that he is going to claim to be the first person to have marched with three different drum corps, headquartered in three different states, all simultaniously, and he has the video evidence to prove it.</p>
<p>I really don’t see any harm in it, it’s just fun.</p>
<p>^^^To those who are worried about the school’s integrity because of use of a mere admitted student’s music : I really don’t feel suspicious of this school’s intentions, in THAT regard. The school is totally legit. I don’t think they have a need to be misleading. Most significantly, their letter explained that they’d like to use his music in future admissions events throughout the year, <em>beginning with</em> the admitted students events that are just around the corner. He is an admitted student, so that’s relevant. Maybe if he ends up not attending, they won’t use it in future events? I’m just guessing that some other admitted students got similar letters in hopes of showcasing their talents. And finally, the general college admissions staff made the request, not the music school within the college. I mean, (I think) the point isn’t to show off the best musical talent at the school, but rather to demonstrate the wide range of talent their applicants possess – in all different areas, not just music. My son does play at a very high level … but there are bound to be many college students at the school who can outplay him. He is not a prodigy. I was more worried about what the contract meant and if he, personally, had anything to lose by signing. I hope that allays some of your concerns … I also have a music major son in college, and I do understand where your concerns are coming from. :)</p>
<p>Sorry - took a while to come back to this - what I meant by “future rights” I should have said as “rights to future works”. Grant whatever you like to what you have submitted, but be sure that there aren’t indefinite rights to anything he ever produces. As performers, they should start getting used to reading all of the fine print and adding whatever they need to protect themselves. May not make a whit if difference now, but the habit is a good one.</p>
<p>I am pretty certain ‘future rights’ means to the item in question, the performance they wish to use and if they did try in the future to use this to claim rights to music your S did after school, it would be laughed out of court I suspect (not a lawyer, but I seem to recall that such a claim is illegal under contract law, elements of contracts are supposed to be clear as to the scope and duration, among other things, might be some lawyers around who could clarify that). The reason they have the student sign the waiver is because even though they may be able to argue fair use (that the item was submitted to them and at that point in effect became theirs to use as they wish), it could cause problems assuming that, so they ask the kid’s permission (which they should IMO).</p>
<p>Generally, when you are in a music program anything you do as a student, whether it be a music performance,a drama/musical, etc, its rights are owned by the school unless specifically granted to the student. No different then when you play carnegie hall, they own the rights to the performance as well, and recording and dissemination of anything done there has to go through them. Plus schools also want to protect their students, one of the reasons they are careful about taping and recording of performances is they want to provide safe space to the student. They don’t want people taping other kids performances and then having them show up on you tube (and yes, virginia, this has happened). Basically, it is their facility, their school, and they make the rules:)</p>
<p>In other words, I doubt you have anything to worry about, assuming the school is good and so forth. Note if there were rights violations about performing a piece of music, generally a student performance is not covered by performing rights as long as the student bought the music in question, those generally only are valid with professional performances of a composers piece or broadcast thereof from what I understand (I am talking the music copyright owner’s rights here).</p>
But … well … it’s kind of cool. And the school is a totally awesome school. It’s also cool that your D’s string quartet is in Miami’s ads! Neat.</p>