I want to have a few Michael Jackson songs in my script and I was wondering if I had to give royalties, an initial charge to Michael Jackson or if I even needed to pay any money at all. It would be great if it were free, but I doubt it...

The public domain law was recently changed. It is now referred to as the Sonny Bono clause. Most things go into pulic domain 75 years after the death of the author. You can put the songs(titles, lyrics, etc.) in your script, but if the movie or play or whatever is being produced, you must get the rights to the songs before you can film or have any kind of performance of the songs. If you are working on a play, usually the producing company will pay dues to ASCAP or some similar group for the performance of or use of any songs that they may use. Hope this helps.

Jay Smith

The rights for popular songs for use in movies are usually VERY expensive. If the rights can even be obtained (try getting the rights to a Bruce Springsteen song; and Jack Black had to make a personal appeal to get Led Zeppelin's permission to use "Immigrant Song" in SCHOOL OF ROCK.) So it's generally best to avoid referring to popular songs in your script because there is just no guarantee that the production will be able to afford or obtain the rights to them.

And anyway, if you're writing a spec script, one that you hope to sell to a studio or other producing entity, you should not worry about the soundtrack in the script; instead focus on character and story. The people who read these scripts like to leave the issue of music (and casting and camera directions and...) to the producers and directors. Too many pop song references often betray a writer as a neophyte.

"Rules" are always made to be broken of course, but proceed with caution if you choose to.

Good luck!

Bill

I assume this also applies to fiction/novels?

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THE THIRTEEN WORLDS
Book One: The Book of Time

0/50000 words
0 characters killed
0 sex scenes
0 dangerous weather anomalies

0 ccs coffee/tea
0 ccs diet soda
0 caffeine pills
0 er visits

I assume this also applies to fiction/novels?

Not necessarily. If you were to quote whole lyrics in a text, then you would need to secure permission from the copyright holder, but if you were to mention the name of a band or a song, or have characters discuss a song (as in Reservoir Dogs), then it shouldn't be a problem. The thing with using music in stage plays and motion pictures is that you are dealing with performance and sync licenses. Since the printed page can't reproduce a sound recording, licensing doesn't come into play.