Last year ESPN broadcast “The Bronx Is Burning”, a popular TV series created by their in-house production company ESPN Original Entertainment. The series portrayed the background events leading to the 1977 New York Yankees dramatic World Series run.

Included in the second episode, “Team In Turmoil“, was a full screen shot of Norman Rockwell’s painting “Bottom of the Sixth“. The painting depicts three umpires looking skyward as raindrops begin to fall. It is a classic Rockwell capturing a unique and wonderful baseball moment. The original painting hangs in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

On May 3rd, the Associated Press reported that ESPN is being sued by Curtis Publishing Company, the owner of the Rockwell painting, for using the image without obtaining a license.

Curtis sent an e-mail to ESPN lawyers notifying them that ESPN did not have a license to use the painting and was committing willful copyright infringement, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit seeks to bar ESPN from rebroadcasting the series until it withdraws use of the painting. In other words, until it removes any footage of the painting from the episode.

Compounding the problem for ESPN is that The Bronx Is Burning has been sold on DVD and VHS format. Recalling the unsold copies and destroying them and having to issue a new movie with the infringement removed will prove costly for the cable network.

Podcaster
Podcaster has everything you need to produce a professional podcast. Add music or just a beat loop to your intro and immediately give a focus to the theme of your show. With over 500 sound effects (Animals, Cartoon Effects, Crashes, Human Effects, Vehicles, Weapons and more), this set will let you underscore the humerous, contentious and exciting moments of your podcast.

WebTones
If you design and create professional Flash productions or web sites, then you will want to add this large assortment of multimedia sounds to your production toolbox. The WebTones collection features 1000 unique buttons, clicks, rollovers, pings, beeps, hits and production elements that can easily be plugged into your next production. This collection will provide you with the tools you need to add sonic life to your virtual creations.

Spoilers - Movie Trailer Sound Beds
If you’ve ever wondered where to find those great sonic effects that Hollywood post production editors lay into movies, trailers and commercials, look no further. This incredible set by Blastwave FX will amp-up your production with the latest, most modern audio effects available on the royalty free market. This collection, on 4 DVDs, has 300 stereo movie trailers and compositions with matching 5.1 surround files, plus 200 high impact stereo imaging elements.

Drones
Using long, sustained, audio drone effects is one of the most effective ways of using sound to build drama and interest in a media production. The material contained in the 4 DVD set Drones by Blastwave FX is specially made to give your production a professional, Hollywood-caliber sheen. In total, this collection has over 10 hours of unique sound effects in stereo and 5.1 Surround Sound.

Blastwave FX develops next-generation HD sound effects libraries for professional audio production. Their design and engineering team constantly pushes the sound envelope with innovative product formats, rich metadata, multi-channel libraries and the highest resolution audio that technology allows.

All Clear?
Music Clearance and Music Licensing

Every few weeks or so I’ll get a phone call with an inquiry that goes something like this…

I’d like to use Elvis Presley’s recording of ‘Don’t Be Cruel’ in my film.  Can you help me do that?

Regretfully, beyond recommending some other companies to investigate, I am not much help in this regard. Though licensing music is our core business, UniqueTracks only licenses recordings that we have created in-house or that we control the publishing rights to. 

What these folks are looking for is a firm that will do “music clearance” work for them.  Yes, there are companies you can turn to when you are looking to obtain music licensing rights but have no idea where to turn.  These companies will help you acquire the rights to use famous songs but they are even better at finding the rights for obscure songs. Music clearance companies are experts at finding the needle-in-the-haystack information that will eventually track down the song you’re interested in.  They will then act as your advocate with the publisher and record company to try and get you the best pricing available.

Read the complete article.

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NABShow April 11-17, 2008 Las Vegas