I am a media technician in a school (in Engalnd) in which an event was
held showcasing the school's talent to various people involved in
education (DFES etc)

Suppose I was employed overtime to film the event on my own equipment
and put it onto DVDs for delegates; and suppose I used extracts of
copyright tracks from CDs I've bought to accompany the footage of the
event..

So, if I was therefore paid £250 (overtime) to make one Master DVD
(which was then sent off for duplication)
What, if any, inringement would I be charged with and by who?

Secondly, what license would I need if any for such a matter, and how
would I go about getting it?

Thankyou

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Clarification of Question by luke_flegg-ga on 03 Nov 2006 05:24 PST

The DVDs would be given to the delegates for free, and have them for
private personal use.

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Clarification of Question by luke_flegg-ga on 03 Nov 2006 05:26 PST

Sorry, my main question was also actually regarding WHO would be
liable for any illegality. Would it be solely my responsibility and
what would the DVDs be seized from the delegates if legal action were
taken?

It is pretty much irrelevant that the DVDs would be given to the
delegates for free/private use.

You would probably be personally liable, because you've copied your
CDs, but your employer would certainly be liable as they've asked you
to breach copyright in the course of your employment.

Liability is a civil matter of recompensing the copyright holder for
loss of income from the licenses you didn't buy. If you are breaching
copyright in the course of trade (reselling bootleg copyright
material) then it is a criminal matter.

You should also have got licences for using any music (performing from
sheet, or using recorded) for the event itself.

To get the licences you start with http://www.mcps.co.uk/ and http://www.prs.co.uk/

   The PRS collects and distributes licence fees from the public
performance and broadcast of musical works.
   The MCPS collects and distributes 'mechanical' royalties generated
from the recording of music onto many different formats. This income
is distributed to their members - writers and publishers of music.
  The MCPS-PRS Alliance manages common activities, services both
societies and is jointly owned by them.

Owain

To add: there's a third organisation you may need to deal wiht.
Phonographic performance. http://www.ppluk.com/

Thanks Owain that was useful.

(However I didn't mean music played at the event, I was refering to
music I'd put on the footage [in the edit process] from my own CDs.)

So if I work on contract for someone, as a private freelance video
producer, would it be ME that's liable, or the person paying me?

It seems quite unfair that just because they are paying for the video,
they should be liable for any illegal doings of the video producer..