Sample Clearing: Getting permission to use a sample from a movie, TV show, or radio program

[Exitof99]

It seems every article I can find on the internet about sample clearing relates specifically clearing use of samples taken from music. I've not found anything about sample clearing for other works.

 

In short, back in the early 90s, I wrote, recorded, released, and performed a number of songs. Many of these contained uncleared samples. While many of the samples were from Old Time Radio programs (which I believe were released before certain copyright laws existed) and may be public domain, there are a few instances where more contemporary (as the time) media was used. One example would be the movie Hell Raiser III. It's easy enough to track down the company that represents that movie, though I'm still unsure of how to approach them to acquire a sample usage license.

 

Another set of samples include a national news program (I'm unsure of which) about North Korea in 1993. The guest commentator/expert they were reviewing isn't a familiar voice, so I haven't got a clue as to how to find what network it was.

 

Then I have samples from two long out-of-print movies, "Sweater Girls" and "Schoolgirls in Chains", which were released in 1978 and 1973 respectively.

 

Lastly, I have samples from a kids puppet show from the early 90s that I spent a day trying to find the source. I went through the 500 TV shows with puppets listed on Wikipedia and came up with one very possible match called "Kitty Cats", which was a show produced in Montreal by a company that went bankrupt in 1999.

 

So, in summation, I have:

 

• Sampled from mainstream movies, but still need to know how to clear the sample
  
• Sampled from Old Time Radio programs, and believe that those are public domain, but cannot find anything expressively stating so
  
• Sampled from major network news programs
  
• Sampled from long out-of-print rare movies
  
• Sampled from TV shows which are no longer accessible, broadcast, and last owned by a company that went bankrupt
  

I'm in the middle of re-releasing my back catalog which previously was only released in limited numbers, though some tracks did get limited airplay across the US years ago. I've registered the songs via BMI, but some require the sample clearances before being added to the BMI repertoire. Thankfully, many samples were created and taken from field recordings, rather than from media, but many songs still need proper clearances.

 

Any tips on how to properly license these would be greatly appreciated.

[Exitof99]

I should note as well, that the "Kitty Cats" kids puppet TV show, assuming that is the actual program that was sampled, was released as in French under the name "Pacha et les chat", but later rereleased with English overdubs. It was aired in the US by TLC network, which is owned by Discovery Communications. They may have only had broadcast rights, so might not be the right party to approach for licensing of the show.

[Anderton]

That's a tough one. I have samples from the old sci-fi flick "Invisible Invaders" that I used in a song that was never released because I had no idea who owned. I've since found out Turner Broadcasting has the rights, so I guess I should start off by contacting them.

 

I would suggest contacting the Harry Fox agency, even though it specializes in music samples. They may have received a question similar to yours so many times they have a cut 'n' paste response.

[Exitof99]

I would suggest contacting the Harry Fox agency' date=' even though it specializes in music samples. They may have received a question similar to yours so many times they have a cut 'n' paste response.[/quote']

 

I've looked at HFA already, though everything they do seems to be about licensing music - not movies. I tried a quick call,anyway, but they are very good about avoiding random calls from non-publishers.

 

As sampling movies is/was not that uncommon, there must be someone out there that has gone through the process before of getting permission or a license.

 

I'm guessing that the Old Time Radio is all public domain, that out-of-print TV shows/movies that time forgot are probably a low risk of trouble (unless a company bought the rights and is just sitting on it).

 

Part of me wonders if it might be worth making an offer on buying the IP of long forgotten movie and then pushing it to digital media outlets for an attempt to make the money invested back. It's a silly thought, but it would solve the sample license issue!