It has now become easier to clear rights for the use of music in smaller video productions. As of January, TONO offers clearance of both synchronization and performance rights in small video productions, such as video recordings of live concerts and church services.
/ 27/01/2021 / Willy MartinsenTONO is now taking over the synchronization area from NCB in Denmark for smaller productions, such as those cases where organizers of live online concerts and church services want the "live streams" to remain online as recordings after the broadcast.
This means that smaller video producers such as churches and concert organizers will now receive both copyright permissions – both the synchronization and the performance – in one place, at TONO.
– The producers of such smaller productions are a different segment than broadcasters, production companies, advertising agencies and the like. We want to offer them a product that is adapted to their areas of use, and when we now offer both of these copyright licenses, it will be easier to create videos with music content. We believe this will stimulate more productions, which in turn will provide increased income for our members, says Inger Elise Mey, who is the director of Online Media, the department with the main responsibility for licensing online concerts in TONO.
The areas that TONO has taken over from NCB specifically include smaller audiovisual productions, such as training videos, educational films for school use and corporate productions for internal viewing, as well as clearance for recordings of concerts and church services that one wishes to have available online after the live broadcasts. TONO's licensing of synchronization only includes the mechanical rights that are necessary when creating such a production with both music and images. The subsequent use of the production must also be cleared separately.
For concerts and church services, TONO has a limited synchronization fee of NOK 500 per production for making the production available afterwards for up to 7 days. If the productions are to be available beyond 7 days, TONO's Online Media department can be contacted by email. online@tono.no to enter into an agreement for this.
Video production was previously reserved for professionals. Today, anyone can create a video with music content using their mobile phone and distribute it on YouTube, Facebook or their own website. Covid-19 accelerated an already rapid technological development:
- When Norway was hit by COVID-19, and infection control measures made it impossible to hold ordinary concerts and church services, the need for digital solutions emerged. TONO was early to offer customized prices and solutions for this area. Over time, both TONO and our other Nordic sister societies, as well as NCB, saw that we could also do something with the licensing of synchronization rights, and results are visible today when we now offer both synchronization and performance licenses for smaller video productions, says Mey.
It is important to note that TONO only grants permission for use on behalf of the authors, that is, those who created the music: the composers and lyricists. If you want to use recorded music in your video production, you must also clarify the recording rights, that is, you need permission to use the recording itself. This is a completely different area of rights that lies outside TONO's area of administration. Clearance of any recording rights will therefore still have to be cleared with the record company that owns the recording you wish to use.
About TONO:
TONO was founded in 1928 and is a non-profit cooperative owned and managed by authors (composers and lyricists) and music publishers, and on their behalf manages the economic copyrights in the music they have created. TONO grants permission for the use of protected music, for example on radio, TV, the internet, concerts and cinemas for a fee, and transfers its financial results each year to the rights holders in music that has been played publicly. TONO has 35,000 members, but also works for approximately three million authors and music publishers from around the world. TONO's social role is twofold, on the one hand collecting and simplifying the licensing of protected music and on the other hand providing music creators with an economic basis for creating new musical works. In 2019, TONO had a turnover of kr 771 millions.
For more information:
Willy Martinsen, communications manager at TONO, willy.martinsen (a) tono.no, mob. 909 65 254.
