Karaoke Forums

I was just curious as to what a television station (Cable, Network, Free OTA) has to go through in order to broadcast Karaoke Clips (in either a regular TV show or in a commercial).

For example:

I'm sure that Levi Strauss and Company had to pay certain fees to the Publishers for the rights to use part of "Kung Fu Fighting" in their ad, but did they also have to pay the Karaoke Manufacturer anything for permission to have (any portion of) those Karaoke Graphics displayed as well? What about the Television Station who airs the commercial? Do they have to pay anything, or does that all fall upon the responsibility of the Sponsor (who created the ad to be broadcast)? What if Levi Strauss didn't pay for any permissions? Would the stations that broadcast that ad be liable for that?

What about when TV shows have brief Karaoke segments thrown in? I know that there have been many TV shows throughout the years (mostly Comedy Sitcoms and Soap Operas (from what I have seen)) that have had a scene which took place involving a Karaoke Show. The most recent one I just saw was this Season's Opener of "Supernatural." Dean Winchester had two quick scenes where he was on stage singing Karaoke (very badly), and it happened to be SC tracks that were displayed for both songs he performed (in two separate scenes). What rights and permissions did the WB network need to obtain for that episode to air?

The sponsor is responsible to obtain ALL the permissions required for their commercials. Whether it is music only, karaoke, a film clip, etc. Television and radio stations are covered by their Federal licences and are not responsible for the content of their advertisers (which is why, especially on infomercials, they have the this station does not bear responsibility for statements or claims, etc, or words to that effect before, during, and/or after airing).

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The karaoke company negotiates a fee for the master use license of their recorded 'arrangement'. If visuals are seen (lyrics), those may be negotiated with the karaoke also as the visual of the lyrics is their property too (not the actual lyrics themselves).

Rates depend on the market (i.e. local, regional, national, worldwide). In my experience, I've had master use licenses for small markets at $100. Worldwide in perpetuity for a movie, tv show (like American Idol, AGT etc) for $3000-$4000. It's a nice payday for me, but it takes forever to get the actual check .

And that's on top of what the writers/publishers who actually own the song itself will get. My fees are only for my arrangement of the 'popular' song that was recorded for karaoke.