“I’m creating a podcast about film music. I don’t have access to many of the composers I’d like to interview, so I’d like to use existing clips of interviews that they’ve already done in my show to feature them talking about their work and composition process. Can I do this or would it be violating copyright? I have a SOCAN license to play the music on my show, but I don’t know if that applies to interviews.”
The most likely outcome of implementing existing clips of interviews into your podcast would be the violation of a performer’s preexisting copyright. As a general rule of thumb, to use an audio voice recording created by someone else, you need to make sure you have the necessary permission to use it if you want to include it in your podcast. This is due to the fact that rights may exist for the performer in the performance of the interview (the composer) as well as for the producer of the interview itself. Therefore, a person cannot without the express permission of the copyright owner, duplicate or rearrange the actual sounds that make up the recording. Even minor reproduction or arrangements require the express permission of the copyright owner. [1]
One way in which such laws may be mitigated is if your podcast falls within the legal realm of “fair dealing”. This means the copying of a substantial part of any protected material for one of only five limited purposes, research or private study, criticism, review, or news reporting. Persons relying on this fair dealing exception need only prove that their own dealings with copyrighted works were for the purpose of research or private study and were fair. Furthermore, the effect of the dealing of the work is another factor to consider in determining whether the dealing is fair. For example, if the reproduced work seeks a commercial benefit and risks competing with the market of the original work, this may suggest that the dealing is not fair. [2] Also, the Documentary Organization of Canada also has a handy (somewhat outdated) reference guide on fair dealing with some illustrative examples.
As for the use of the SOCAN license, while this may cover the composer’s own music, it is not likely that it transcends into covering interviews by the very same composer due to the fact that they are being interviewed on an entirely separate platform protected by a preexisting copyright (a radio show).
[1] Podcasting Legal Guide for Canada 13. https://cippic.ca/sites/default/files/Podcasting-LegalGuide-Canada.pdf
[2] Ibid at page 20.
The Queen’s Film & TV Research Group are not lawyers, and this is not legal advice! For more information on copyright law, please see the Copyright Law section of this site. Find out more about Queen’s Law on their website, and Pro Bono Queen’s at the PBSC Queen’s site.