Common use of Performances Clause in Contracts

Performances. What is a University event? A University event is an event that is organised and authorised by the University. University events include concerts, recitals, alumni events, gallery exhibitions, O-Week celebrations, movie nights and other similar events. Events can be on or off campus to qualify and they can be open to the public. Events that are held by third-parties such as concert promoters are not considered to be University events even if they are held on campus for University students. What is the difference between a University activity and a University event? A University event is an event or occurrence that you promote – to the University or wider community – such as a concert, recital, play, open day/week, NAIDOC week celebration, food truck night, movie night, alumni evening, patrons’ dinner. A University activity is solely or jointly facilitated with students and their research collaborators, for the purpose of teaching, learning, research, extracurricular activities, community engagement and other activities required by the University to provide services to its staff, students and members of the University community. These include things like gallery showings, installations, museum walk- throughs, Vivid light shows. University events and activities do cross over from time to time and the difference between them can be vague. The only reason they are to be treated differently under this agreement is that there is a ticket price threshold for University events (excluding graduations for which there is no threshold) and there is no threshold for University activities. Both can be held on or off the University campus and still have coverage under this agreement. What about online classes or events over Zoom or Teams? The agreement covers music to be used in a course of instruction (with limitations as detailed above) whether that instruction is given in person or online. If the instruction is given online it is best practice that the class is password protected to ensure that only staff and students may access the lesson. If the University is running an event online it must manage the synchronisation and stream in line with the rules detailed above. What do we do if we want to use music in a dramatic context? If you want to use music in conjunction with a presentation live on stage that has a storyline and one or more narrators or characters then you need to approach APRA directly for licensing. Make sure you give yourself a lot of lead time to get the appropriate licensing in place – it can take some time. What do we do if we want to run an event – online or in person – where ticket prices are more than $40 (plus GST)? You need to get an event licence from OneMusic Australia (xxx.xxxxxxxx.xxx.xx). Make sure you give yourself plenty of time to arrange this licence as it can take a few weeks to process. Are we able to screen movies under this licence? You need to make sure you have a licence from the film distributor to screen the movie itself. This agreement will cover the performance of the music that is contained in the film as long as the conditions of the agreement are met – including that ticket prices do not exceed $40 (plus GST), that the film is from a legitimate source. RECORDINGS AND SYNCHRONISATIONS Where can we source legal sound recordings? As long as you are not illegally downloading or streaming the recording – such as from The Pirate Bay or similar – but instead purchasing the recording or stream from a legitimate provider, then this is considered ‘legally sourcing’ the recording. Can we give online lectures that contain music? Yes– even if they are streamed via a platform like Zoom or Teams. You need to consider though that in making a recording of lecture that contains music you are making a synchronisation and you must treat that audio-visual file according to the limitations surrounding synchronisations above. Can our marketing team put videos containing music on our social media channels? Probably – but remember there are really specific rules about what you can do with synchronisations in an online context. See Part B above for information on this and make sure that if your video has music that you have added to it post-production, that you do not put it on any social media platform if you have used an ARIA sound recording. What is an official University social media channel? These are official pages on social media platforms (including educational platforms, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, etc) that are in the University’s name and are managed by the University. Only authorised staff should be able to upload and edit posts on these channels – not students or people who are not employees of the University. They must be the official channel of the University and be sanctioned by the University. These are usually run by the University marketing and communications teams. Can our marketing team put videos containing music on our website? Probably – but remember there are really specific rules about what you can do with synchronisations in an online context. See Part B above for information on this and make sure that if your video has music that you have added to it post-production, that you do not put it on your website if you have used an ARIA sound recording. You can only stream a video containing an ARIA sound recording on your website if the music was captured in-context. Can we make a playlist available from our website? Yes – you can make audio-only recordings available from your website. Can we stream graduation ceremonies to overseas students and families? Yes, but you cannot make them available for download and the stream may only be available online for a period of 30 days from the date of graduation. After 30 days they need to move to your LMS and sit behind a password that is available to staff and students only. Can I put a video of my students’ music recitals on the University website under this agreement? Yes, but make sure you are adhering to the rules regarding online synchronisations. If the students are performing the works and not using any ARIA sound recordings then putting their recitals online would be covered for both the University website and official social media channels. If, however, your students have used any ARIA sound recordings (for example they have sampled some Queen recordings and looped them as an accompaniment to their recital), then the use of the ARIA sound recordings means that the student’s performance can only be streamed via the University website, not social media channels. It may be shared via the University LMS but not any public facing website.