AboutJames E. Dion Expertise Most questions about trends in specialty retail, how customers are changing both in the US and Europe. Demographics for all countries as they relate to retail trends and issues. Store Operations, Buying and Merchandising.
Experience
Past/Present clients Microsoft, Harley-Davidson, Ritz-Carlton, Hummer, Ace Hardware, Coleman Spas, Aldo, Intel, Dell, Safeway, New Balance, IBM, Kodak, Bata International, Nortel Networks, Honey Baked Ham Co., Man Alive, Highsmith
B.S Chicago State University
M.S. Chicago State University
PhD (abd) Illinois Institute of Technology
Question I am looking to start my own business, but not sure if copyright laws would interfere. I make videos and post them on youtube all the time that have concert or video footage, with audio tracks in the background, you know the type. Do the copyright laws on the material I use for my videos prevent me from being able to sell them for profit? If so, how can I sell the videos I create on DVDs from home? Is there a proper way to go about it or get the right permissions? Please help, any advice would be great.
Answer Ashley,
Any time you sell a song, video or any "mix" or "re-mix" of an artists work you need to pay royalties. If you do not sell it or receive any money for it that is a different thing, but when you charge people, you need to pay royalties. There are movies that are out of copyright that you can do this with but most of them are over 25 years old and not of much interest, and if you overlay music you need to pay the royalties to use it. You can check out the policies on http://www.bmi.com/ which is one of the big royalty collection companies. Good luck
