Licensing
Agencies for Obtaining Permissions
Copyright Clearance Center
(CCC)
222 Rosewood Drive
Danvers, MA 01923
Phone: 978-750-8400; Fax: 978-646-8600
E-mail: info@copyright.com
http://www.copyright.com
The CCC is one of the best places to start when you are seeking
rights. They handle permission requests for republication, both
commercial and non-commercial. They also handle permissions
for educational course packs and library reserves. However,
the CCC does not deal with public performance rights. Their
sole interest is the right of reproduction. If you are interested
in public performance, however, you would need to contact one
of the performance rights agencies that specialize in this area.
American Society of Composers,
Authors, & Publishers (ASCAP)
http://www.ascap.com
ASCAP handles the rights to music from over 200,000 U.S. composers,
songwriters, lyricists, and music publishers. In addition, ASCAP
can help obtain the rights to music from other countries through
agreements with other agencies. Offices are located in New York,
Los Angeles, London, Nashville, Miami, Chicago, Atlanta, and
Hato Rey, Puerto Rico.
Broadcast Music International (BMI)
http://www.bmi.com
BMI represents over 300,000 songwriters, composers and music
publishers. Like the ASCAP, BMI also has reciprocal arrangements
with agencies in other countries. BMI collects license fees
for the public performance of music, particularly for music
that is going to be broadcast, used in restaurants and stores,
etc. Offices are located in New York, Nashville, Los Angeles,
Atlanta, London, Miami, and Hato Rey, Puerto Rico.
Society of European Stage Authors
and Composers (SESAC)
http://www.sesac.com
Like its larger sister organizations, ASCAP and BMI, SESAC represents
songwriters and publishers. SESAC headquarters is in Nashville,
with offices in New York, Santa Monica, and London.
The Harry Fox Agency
711 Third Avenue
New
York, NY 10017
Phone: 212-370-5330; Fax: 646-487-6779
http://www.harryfox.com
This agency also represents the music industry. Fox’s
list includes the largest concentration of digital music of
any agency.
Motion Picture Licensing Corporation
(MPLC)
5455 Centinela Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90066-6970
Phone: 800-462-8855, 310-822-8855; FAX: 310-822-4440
E-mail: info@mplc.com
http://www.mplc.com
According to its Website, MPLC is “an independent copyright
licensing service exclusively authorized by major Hollywood
motion picture studios and independent producers to grant Umbrella
Licenses® to non-profit groups, businesses and government
organizations for the public performances of home videocassettes
and DVDs (‘Videos’).”
Movie
Licensing USA
201 South Jefferson Avenue
St. Louis, MO 63103-2579
877-321-1300 (K-12 schools); 888-267-2658 (public libraries);
FAX: 1-877-876-9873
E-mail: mail@movlic.com
http://www.movlic.com
This organization licenses public performance rights for films
to public libraries and schools.
The American Association of Community
Theatre
8402 Briarwood Creek
Lago Vista, TX 78645
Phone: 866-687-2228, 512-267-0711; FAX: 512-267-0712
http://www.aact.org
This organization helps community theatre groups obtain necessary
permissions, as well as providing other types of resources and
information. According to its Website, “AACT is the central
resource for theatre information and resources, connecting not
only members in an information network, but providing data and
information to non-members, businesses, other arts and not-for-profit
organizations, and the media, as well as to members of local,
state and federal governments.”
Dramatists
Play Service, Inc
440 Park Avenue South
New York, NY 10016
Phone: 212-683-8960; FAX: 212-213-1539
http://www.dramatists.com
This organization has the largest catalog of plays in the English
language, and helps to provide performance rights in the U.S.
Baker’s Plays
P.O. Box 699222
Quincy, MA 02269-9222
Phone: 617-745-0805; FAX: 617-745-9891.
http://www.bakersplays.com
This organization provides performance rights for plays in the
Eastern U.S. They also maintain a reading room and store that
is open to the public at 1445 Hancock Street, Quincy, MA.
Samuel French, Inc
7623 Sunset Blvd.
Hollywood, CA 90046-2795
Phone: 323-876-0570; FAX: 323-876-6822
E-mail: info@samuelfrench.com
http://www.samuelfrench.com
This agency provides performance rights for plays in the Western
U.S.
