I'm not sure about the exact process, but this is basically how it
works. Because we're talking about music, there's a "compulsory
license" on which you may rely in order to perform the song. What
this means is that you pay 3.5 cents per $1 profit you make to use
the song (although the rate may have changed). Musicians can't block
you from using the song, but you must pay this license fee to them.
You'd pay it to the Copyright Office of the Library of Congress, who
would in turn get the funds to registered agent of the owner of the
copyright.

Here's what I'm unsure of: whether this applies to the use of music
in a movie. I know this applies to using the song in concert or
putting it on an album, but I don't know if this default license
allows you to use the song in a movie. After all, no movie actually
makes a profit nowadays, so artists would get screwed if the
compulsory license was based on the movie net.

I suggest that you visit the copyright office website and make an
attempt to arrange to pay the license fee. You should get more
answers there.

Rob (an attorney who used to work in intellectual property but is now
a real estate attorney)

--- In WriteMovies@yahoogroups.com, "Zack" <Zack@...> wrote:
>
> Is there a licensing pro in the house? We need to secure the sync &
> mechanical rights to a song for a movie and are getting the run
around.
> Basically one of our actors sings a song written by a famous
artist; so
> we need to pay for those rights, but how do we go about paying the
> musician who actually played the backing track?
> any ideas?
> zack.
>