The information below is educational and not intended as legal advice. While we believe the information is accurate, we provide no guarantee or warranty concerning these materials or the interpretation or applicability of the laws to your situation. Copyright compliance is the responsibility of the user of the creative works of others. Consult your legal counsel before taking any action.
WGI Sport of the Arts requires all participating groups to comply with copyright laws regarding performance and/ or use of arrangements of copyrighted music, visual images and other materials, as well as the use of copyrighted audio, spoken text and display of copyrighted words and images. If copyright violation is found to exist, disqualification may occur.
WGI VIDEO POLICY
There is no video recording permitted at any WGI event. Any liability associated with unauthorized recordings will rest with the individual or organization making the recording. WGI does not condone, nor accept any liability for, any unauthorized recording during the event. In most cases, using musical selections in video recordings requires synchronization licensing to comply with copyright law. Consult your legal counsel.
Color Guard Copyright Requirements
- All Color Guards must comply with copyright laws and hold for personal records.
- All Color Guards must submit your groups Song Selection Information via the director’s dashboard.
- Please remember this is only a declaration of your song so that your group’s copyright compliance may be tracked.
The musical selection(s) used in your program may require additional licensing other than blanket licenses obtained by WGI. Visit ClicknClear or Copyright.gov for additional information.
CLICKnCLEAR
ClicknClear has a catalog of hundreds of thousands of tracks, including selections from every genre of music. They are actively working on continually expanding their catalog. Purchasing music through ClicknClear allows you to license and download your music tracks instantly. The license purchased includes all the rights you need from the original recording artists and songwriters.
Licenses to recorded tracks from ClicknClear include:
- Rights to edit and adapt the tracks either alone or in a mix to accompany your performance.
- Rights to distribute audio copies of the track/mix to up to 35 individual students for training purposes.
- Rights to put a choreographed routine to the track/mix.
- Rights to perform the routine in public with the mix.
Select tracks also have commercial synchronization licensing as an optional “add on” purchase if your group wishes to post a video recording on your website or for other uses.
WGI recommends purchasing your music through ClicknClear.
Percussion and Winds Copyright Requirements
Percussion and Winds groups competing at any WGI Event are required to secure permission to arrange for all songs involved. We must stress that you do not ignore the Permission to Arrange requirement to participate in any WGI event.
- All Percussion and Winds groups are required to secure permission to arrange for all songs involved within their performance.
- For assistance securing permission to arrange, we suggest you visit ClinkNClear or Tresona
- All group are required to submit the Repertoire Submission Form found in the Director’s Dashboard under copyright.
- Groups failing to have this information on file may not be permitted to compete.
Please remember this is only a declaration of your repertoire so that your group’s copyright compliance may be tracked this form is NOT a request for Permission to Arrange.
If groups do not secure licensing prior to your performance, you may incur considerable penalties and be liable for any infringement of copyrighted materials. These penalties can potentially reach thousands of dollars for each song infringed.
Additional Copyright Material
How do I determine the musical composition copyright holder?
Composition copyrights are typically managed by music publishers. To identify the music publisher(s) for a particular song, you should first consult a CD that contains the song. If the CD identifies the performing rights society (ASCAP, BMI or SESAC), you can go to the web site for the appropriate society and search the database to find the music publisher(s). Searching for the song title in the databases should give you at least the name of the music publisher, and will usually give you both the name and contact information. You can also check to see if you selection is located within the public domain.
Spoken Word / Literary Copyrights
Spoken word – Including movie quotes, and literary quotations, may contain copyrighted content. You should exercise care to ensure that you have permission to use any copyrighted words in your show.
Visual Arts
Visual pieces of art, including photographs, are most likely copyrighted. You should exercise care to ensure that you have permission to use any copyrighted visual image in your show.
