In Regards to your letter <[log in to unmask]>:
>
>     I have heard of this happening before with regard to
> actual soundtrack recordings - where a film is released with
> songs on the soundtrack, but the studio does not have the
> rights to release the song on the soundtrack recording.
> However, I don't remember ever seeing a switch in the music
> from movie to videotape like this.  Any thoughts??
>
>
> Sally Waters          /  "When the final showdown came to pass
> Queen of Reference    /  A law book was no good..."
> Stetson Law Library   /  --Gene Pitney, "The Man Who Shot
> St. Petersburg, FL    /  Liberty Valance"
> (waters@stetson)      /
 
It's more a matter of the film company not being able to get things
for the price they want in order to obtain sync-rights.  It some rare
cases sync-rights are not granted for various reasons.  They range
from conflicts in marketing by who has control of the rights to a
family estate that doesn't want their music to be used in a specific
way.
 
Sound-alikes can be commissioned but it's best to stay away from those
things unless you get a kick out of talking with an attorney a lot.
:-)
 
What I do to avoid the whole issue of sound-alikes is to again, ask
what the emotional impact the producer or director is going after
for that scene and go with that.  It does take them several times
of viewing that scene over with the new music I composed before they
are not able to hear the old stuff playing in their head.
 
I'm not saying that the screenwriters shouldn't wish for things but
they have to understand that if a scene simply won't work without
a specific song, they better be prepared to do a re-write because
the film company might not be able to obtain the sync-rights.  Working
with a music clearance service can be really helpful since they deal
with those types of problems all the time and can suggest an alternate
song if possible.
 
David
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