Can We Use Our Favorite (Licensed) Song in our Wedding Video?

Knottie87468905

Is it possible?  We want to have a videographer at our wedding, but we have a favorite song that means the world to us, and it is by a famous artist.  Are there any videography companies out there that let you use your favorite popular song in the video?  It's not like it's going anywhere - it's for our memories only!  

Thanks!

Whitney

photokitty

Many will let you request a popular artist's song. It really depends on how they plan to utilize the finished product whether they can or can't. Our video highlight reel is set to a licensed song. GL!

klk111415

Some videographers are straying away from the popular songs because it's expensive to license the song for use and if it's not licensed properly they could be looking at possible copyright infringement if posted anywhere on the internet.  I believe if it's a personal use (not to be shared online) they are able to use any song you'd like.  It just can't be a video posted on youtube or any other video sharing site like vimeo that will get views.

If your videographer were to post a video montage from your wedding on youtube, youtube has the right to remove the video if it contains a recognizable song that was not properly licensed.

I can tell you that I work in the licensing industry (photos/video/music) and to properly license your favorite song would cost a lot of $$$.  And not properly licensing music could get yourself or videographer in trouble.  The good news is that you can find tons of music online that you can license with the correct rights (if you plan to share your video online) which will keep you in the clear- so maybe use your favorite song for personal viewing and license a song if you plan to share it.  

http://www.reelseo.com/copyrighted-music-in-video/

klk111415

http://www.phillymag.com/philadelphia-wedding/2014/02/27/videographer-got-license-songs-wedding-video/

That provides good information.  But as long as it's just for you and the memories- you should be fine.

photokitty

kk111415 said:

http://www.phillymag.com/philadelphia-wedding/2014/02/27/videographer-got-license-songs-wedding-video/

That provides good information.  But as long as it's just for you and the memories- you should be fine.

That is an interesting and informative article...thanks for sharing! One more reason wedding videos aren't cheap. Most of those songs on the jump link were about $50 for the license use.

klk111415

Yeah, I feel like this only recently became an issue.  I remember when my friend's did the short SDE they used "Marry Me" by Train.  Fast forward a few years and they are no longer offering popular songs for the SDE because they are all posted online.  They are taking advantage of some non popular songs that are still quite sweet.  One song I love is "Perfect Kiss" by Marie Hines which I've seen in a lot of wedding videos online.  It's probably a little more popular now, though.  And that one is still $49 on most sites.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWGY7R0NArg&list=PL4de2Ti1tEcVF2JXccfz3lOlpMcwjtWqp