Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2012 August 20

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August 20

The Looney Tunes Show

Are there any new episodes of The Looney Tunes Show being produced? --Nathan2055^{talk - contribs} 01:27, 20 August 2012 (UTC)

Copyright ownership to R.E.M. "It's the end of the world as we know it"

I need to know who owns the copyright to the music and lyrics of R.E.M song called "It's the end of the world as we know it" for permission purposes to reuse a line and it's melody. I have exhausted the internet with no results. Thank you87.201.0.198 (talk) 18:23, 20 August 2012 (UTC)

If you are in the US, then the Harry Fox Agency is usually the first place to stop for music licensing. In this case, the publisher is Warner-Tamerlane and they are represented by HFA. Regards, Orange Suede Sofa (talk) 18:42, 20 August 2012 (UTC)

Just a point old chap, under the fair use doctrine, you can use brief excerpts of copyrighted material under certain circumstances - we do, such as File:U2_Pride.ogg. You might not need formal permission. However we do suggest you consult a attorney with experience in copyright law, especially if you are using it for commercial purposes. Quintessential British Gentleman (talk) 23:26, 21 August 2012 (UTC)

Small point, I don't believe Harry Fox owns the copyright, but they have systems in place to license the sound recording. However, you might be more interested in the mechanical royalties or the ASCAP royalties, depending on which portion of the song you want to use. Whether an artist continues to own the copyright to their music depends largely on their record contract's terms. They're not works for hire, but contacts often sign away exclusive licensing, or even assign copyrights.

You could look at the Library of Congress' registration (I don't know how easy this is to get at online) and see who filed it (probably the record company) but that might not be definitive as to current ownership. It's a complicated question, and the problem is part of the orphan works movement. Shadowjams (talk) 23:24, 24 August 2012 (UTC)