Permission to put a Petra song on a CD?

[micah]

Is it possible/easy/necessary to get permission to use a Petra song as a soundtrack on a nonprofit DVD?

I'm thinking Sacred Trust would be good for a project I might do.

Thanks!

[brent]

The best thing to do is contact Harry Fox Agency.

http://www.harryfox.com/index.jsp.

They will take care of all of the legals for you. It IS illegal for you to use work that is not created by you, in your work, without permission. If you want a primer in this kind of law, read the youtube legal section. They lay it out.

I have had artist management approve usage for limited distribution, in this case church use. It costs more money in paper work and tracking than what it's worth. Sometimes they will agree.

In this case, the owner of the work gets the say, and you will have to find out who that is. If it is a label, then good luck. But, it doesn't hurt to ask.

They will want to know:
How many will you press?
Are you selling them, if so how much?
How much of the song will you use? (May be a deal breaker)
Will you show credits?

[micah]

Thanks. Looks like it could be too much trouble, and I'm not interested in paying much.

I was thinking Bob himself had rights to the songs. Does anyone go straight to him?

[brent]

The label owns the tunes. Bob gets royalties. EMI bought up just about everything and rereleased it all digitally. Call EMI and ask for Richard Greene. He was managing Petra's green tree personally last time I spoke with him.