- May 17, 2013
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High School Usa Cheer/varsity Music Announcement
- Thread starter jscoach210
- Start date
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- Jan 29, 2011
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I know but it's a rule that has been ignored or worked around for years. I know Varsity/USA Cheer is getting behind because they risk legal action for airing routines with the mixes online, or on TV. I'm asking if a no-name HS that is not going to have their routine broadcasted, makes a mix with legally obtained music, is that fine?
I'm mostly grumpy because we have a tiny music budget. I have bought tons of sound effects over the years (I have CDs that I bought from various producers, some with dates of like 2003...) They are cheerleading sound effects sold as DIY effects but most don't have a "license" included (or that I saved...).
I'm not selling my mixes, not making money off of someone else's work. I'm merely trying to use the stuff that I purchased for it's intended purchase, but it's going to be a no-go because I don't have a piece of paper that says I'm using it for its intended purpose. Nor do I remember who I bought most of this off of to go back and ask for a license. (Some is labeled, and I'm going to email as many as possible, but who knows what my success rate will be....)
I'm not selling my mixes, not making money off of someone else's work. I'm merely trying to use the stuff that I purchased for it's intended purchase, but it's going to be a no-go because I don't have a piece of paper that says I'm using it for its intended purpose. Nor do I remember who I bought most of this off of to go back and ask for a license. (Some is labeled, and I'm going to email as many as possible, but who knows what my success rate will be....)
Twinklestars
Cheer Parent
- Sep 11, 2013
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Great question! I am interested in the answer. My cp's team doesn't compete. We live in a rural area and they usually only do a few routines each year.
- Jan 29, 2011
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VA public schools competes but not outside the state/Varsity events. I think it's silly to pay more for copyright issues when you're not at risk of legal action.
Strictly legally speaking - what I'm hearing is muddy waters. USA Cheer (and by extension Varsity) say no, you are not allowed to legally mix music unless you get consent from the artist and music companies for any performance. (Verified at a coaches' conference I attended.) Legitmix does not agree with this sentiment: The Legitmix Blog: Copyright Common Sense
Is that something you want to risk? Maybe - that's going to have to be your call.
You do have to remember that even a no-name HS could end up on YouTube when Susie videos her friends' performance and puts it up for the team to watch. But is anyone really going to go after no-name HS for a halftime performance at a basketball game? I honestly don't know. (But keep in mind that if they DO go after you, you wouldn't have much to stand on since USA Cheer has pretty much made it illegal to do...)
- Jan 29, 2011
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I ask because it's not just cheerleaders that post videos with licensed music online. The HS's in my county makes promo videos for big games and uses popular music..(sometimes they're remixed a popular songs with lyrics pertaining to the game)....or sports teams will perform a routine to a popular song at a pep rally...I'm just saying is the music company going after all of these people?
That being said wholeheartedly believe this new rule is to cover Varsity and other cheer companies from legal action, especially because they're making money off of these routines. It seems excessive and unfair to schools that don't have funds to pay for licensed music for their routines that are going to be performed a handful of times, if that.
- Nov 10, 2015
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The real problem is that the whole thing is just one big question mark. My limited understanding of the legal system (meaning, in my MBA program I took a SINGLE CLASS on business law) would lend me to believe there is no legal precedent here. So, we've ignored this law for 35+ years. We've largely gone unnoticed for 35+ years. We haven't had a problem for 35+ years. Now, we've had a threat of legal action and therefore are in a cease and desist type scenario where if we don't stop breaking the law, there could be ramifications.
However, this is civil law, not criminal law. The legal precedent would be the standard, but I'm guessing if a cheer organization had ever been sued for this in the past, we wouldn't have continued to do it. So my bet is that there is no legal precedent for this type of case because it's never been done before. No one knows exactly what would happen if it were to go to court. The penalty could potentially be severe, but again, no one knows because it's never been done before. There is also the variable of, "someone has to prove that the cheer industry actually profited from the use of this music." They have to show to what extent they profited. They have to show that the people in the music industry actually suffered some form of loss. There are so many variables that the reason you're getting "Muddy water" answers is that no one truly has a clue.
I'm guessing that even the corporate attorneys with USA cheer and Varsity aren't 100% sure of what the ramifications would be. However, their job is to help USA cheer and Varsity mitigate risk, and the best way to mitigate risk, in this case, is to avoid it.
EDITED BECAUSE in my business law class they didn't stress enough that "there" and "their" do not have the same meaning.
However, this is civil law, not criminal law. The legal precedent would be the standard, but I'm guessing if a cheer organization had ever been sued for this in the past, we wouldn't have continued to do it. So my bet is that there is no legal precedent for this type of case because it's never been done before. No one knows exactly what would happen if it were to go to court. The penalty could potentially be severe, but again, no one knows because it's never been done before. There is also the variable of, "someone has to prove that the cheer industry actually profited from the use of this music." They have to show to what extent they profited. They have to show that the people in the music industry actually suffered some form of loss. There are so many variables that the reason you're getting "Muddy water" answers is that no one truly has a clue.
I'm guessing that even the corporate attorneys with USA cheer and Varsity aren't 100% sure of what the ramifications would be. However, their job is to help USA cheer and Varsity mitigate risk, and the best way to mitigate risk, in this case, is to avoid it.
EDITED BECAUSE in my business law class they didn't stress enough that "there" and "their" do not have the same meaning.
From what I understand, posting videos with licensed music online isn't the root of the problem. (For instance posting videos via YouTube, YouTube already has a system in place to handle licensed music.) USA Cheer is more concerned with the mixing/editing/creating mash-ups that they consider to be outside the personal use rights that we get when we purchase a piece of music.
This is the slide show that Varsity put together, and it does note that these rules should apply to any time you use music - not just competitions. And it explains the reasoning behind the rules. Music Guidelines
- Jan 29, 2011
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Okay. Either way I'm interested how the non-National HS sect of cheer will handle this rule.
- Nov 10, 2015
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KY obviously has teams that compete at nationals, but just as many who do not. We received an email with reminders that we needed to follow the law.
- Jan 29, 2011
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Thanks for clearing up!
- Dec 9, 2012
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- Thread starter
- #59
Everything abt this!!!!!! [emoji115]I [emoji173]️[emoji173]️[emoji173]️ it !
This is some real ol' BS that is absurd !
I just can't see how this is even ok with anyone... I mean purchasing a license to use a bell ding unless we create it ourselves?? And what abt a custom VO?
Help me out folks .... What is the consensus on all of this ?
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Last edited:
- Nov 10, 2015
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Unfortunately, BS or not, if it's the law, it's the law.
If you break the law, there are consequences.
The law hasn't changed, we have. We used to fly under the radar for the most part. Now, we have "famous" all star gyms, TV shows all about some of us, and cheerlebrities. Our videos are broadcast all over the place. When you gain mainstream attention, it sometimes leads to negative outcomes, especially if you've been violating a law for 35+ years. When you get called out, you can only claim ignorance for so long before the consequences begin.
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