Discussion:
My question has to do with the amount and substance of the portion used of copyrighted material. I am in the process of making a film and during one scene there is copyrighted material shown on a television screen in the background. We would like to sync up the audio that matches the material shown, but are unsure of the legality.
What is the "amount" of material we are allowed to show before we need to get permission from the copyright holder? The scene lasts for 2 minutes, and the copyrighted material is NOT the focus of the scene, just the background noise.
Answer:
Since the material you plan to use is copyrighted, you need permission from the owner to use even 1 second of the work.