What costs more: buying the rights to a musical, or to songs from several musicals?

[Pandora Banister]

Posted: 9/26/18 at 5:47pm

For perspective, I wrote a book that includes a musicale production. It's made up of songs from various musicals (many from Disney movies).

The songs chosen are Let it Go from FROZEN, Opportunity from ANNIE (2014), Popular from WICKED, Colors of the Wind from POCAHONTAS (but that's played on a hurdy gurdy, not sang), I See the Light from TANGLED, Tomorrow from ANNIE, These Palace Walls from ALADDIN, Part of Your World from THE LITTLE MERMAID, and All That Matters from FINDING NEVERLAND. 

I've been daydreaming about when my book will be published, and if it would subsequently be made into a movie. However, I thought of something: how expensive would it be to buy the rights to nine songs from various musicals? So I thought, if this movie in question is on a limited budget, maybe change to a single musical production (like WICKED or PHANTOM). But now I'm wondering if it'd cost more to buy the rights to a whole musical.

I'm not asking for a specific number. I just want to know which is more expensive: buying the rights to a whole musical, or to nine songs from several musicals?

Thank you.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 9/26/18 at 5:53pm

Do you mean use ALL the songs from the same musical, just putting it to a different book?

 

Regardless, I doubt they'd give you permission to use their music that way.

 

[Pandora Banister]

Posted: 9/26/18 at 8:47pm

No, not all of them. Just a few scenes and a few songs, Same book. Kinda like in Birdman. They don't show the full-on show, just enough without taking up too much screen time.

[ggersten]

Posted: 9/26/18 at 11:24pm

So, you wrote a book which is about characters putting on a musical and that musical uses pre-existing material.  The pre-existing material you cited are all under copyright - and you will need to obtain the rights to use that material in a book.  Now, I don't know how much those rights would cost, since you are not putting on an actual production.  I guess it would be on a song by song basis, regardless whether the musical in your book is a complete existing musical or a mash-up.    .  

[HogansHero]

Posted: 9/27/18 at 12:15am

Your question is not clear. You are writing a book that refers to songs that are sung in a show? That is not a performance. If that book is later made into a film in which the songs are performed in other than a fair use way, you are probably not going to get the rights, at least not anytime soon and probably never. If you are strategizing about how to make a low budget film with songs, you would either use original material, or material from musicals that are not valuable.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 9/27/18 at 10:52am

I think the question is clear, though the expectations of the OP are quite naive. Should the book ever be adapted into a movie, then each individual song would need to be licensed from the rights-holder. And there is a difference in buying the rights and licensing the rights. I'm pretty sure the OP meant licensing. Licensing costs would vary, based purely at the discretion of a rights holder. It would make no sense to license an entire musical if you aren't adapting it as a film. You'd only be able to license individual songs.

Most of your song list is Disney material, and there's no way you would ever be able to license that music for a non-Disney-produced film. The other songs you might be able to license. For example, the recent film Love, Simon featured the musical Oliver! in its source material, but the filmmakers could not secure the rights to any of the songs, so they they ended up licensing songs from Cabaret. 

[dramamama611]

Posted: 9/27/18 at 11:04am

Fosse76 said: "I think the question is clear, though the expectations of the OP are quite naive. Should the book ever be adapted into a movie, then each individual song would need to be licensed from the rights-holder. And there is a difference in buying the rights and licensing the rights. I'm pretty sure the OP meant licensing. Licensing costs would vary, based purely at the discretion of a rights holder. It would make no sense to license an entire musical if you aren't adapting it as a film. You'd only be able to license individual songs.

Most of your song list is Disney material, and there's no way you would ever be able to license that music for a non-Disney-produced film. The other songs you might be able to license. For example, the recent film Love, Simon featured the musical Oliver! in its source material, but the filmmakers could not secure the rights to any of the songs, so they they ended up licensing songs from Cabaret."

 

There's a lot of correct info here.

 

You simply writing it into a script (published or otherwise) has nothing to do with permission.   IF anyone wanted to produce this as a film, that's when permissions, licensing needs to happen.