Why the Ticky Box?
Note: we’ve updated the Submissions form with a “ticky box” that indicates you have permission to use any non-original music in your film. Here Kate talks about why we’ve decided to do this.
Why the Ticky Box?
Music is an emotive force, and as filmmakers we both share in, and in some ways understand the way music tells a story, though nobody really knows why human beings find it satisfying to empathise, and enter into another emotional world for a while. Anything that we, as humans, experience occurs within a full spectrum. There are peaks, there are most definitely troughs, and most of the time there’s the humdrum of everyday.
For some, music is such a precious resource that any attempts to commercialise or otherwise ‘debase’ the experience are utterly rejected…music should be freely shared, we should rise up and…what do we do next? That bit is always a little vague to me.
How does all this relate to the expo Kate? Do you want us to buy placards and stand outside our local music mega-store shouting “down with capitalism”?
Well, if your music shop is still open and you have a spare afternoon, I can’t really stop you. However in our corner of the UK, the trend is to abandon actual shops and ‘buy it on t’net’.
..and this is the point really. All that free love, er I mean music sharing didn’t seem to count for much when the net was young.Who cares if a few geeks pass on their Alanis Morissette albums, so long as the tills are still ringing on the high street?
..but when the masses left the out of town shopping mauls (sic) and started congregating, and shopping online, the balance shifted.
Music companies overreacted, and they still are. Legal sharks, smelling blood, nosed around in the panic and found a living for themselves. Software companies saw the chance to really knuckle down on those kids posting blurry photos and tinny recordings of their fave band on video sharing sites. We got you, we got you good kid! Ok… and some sensible levelheaded types did quite reasonable things when nasty villains stole their sweat-forged intellectual property (did that get the balance back, are we sued yet?)
The luckier victims, er perpetrators get take down notices, cease and desist orders, and most of the time that’s all that happens, most of the time.
We know you know that when you submit a movie, sorting out the licensing for the music is your responsibility, and so has it always been.
We also know you know that for a long time, machinimators have been able to dodge around the system a little, ‘hey what’s the worst that could happen?’
So we added a ticky box the submission form. So now, you know we know you know, and because we’re no longer sure what exactly is the worst that could happen.
If any films come in with the ticky box ticked ‘yes we own the music’ and it’s kind of obvious that you don’t, then, because we’re nice, and because we love you really, we’ll let you know and you’ll get the chance to resubmit. (You see, I told you we are nice).
The weird thing is, this seeming limitation ends up being exciting, because of how creative you guys are, and due to the vast number of wonderful musicians who exist outside the music system, either giving away their work for free, or offering very reasonable rates for licensing. Here’s a link to a document we’ve created which will help you find music for your machinima film that is legal.
You can access that document here:
Music Sources for your Machinima Film
-Kate Fosk
