Obtaining Rights to Arrange
1st Place Designs adheres to and respects all copyright laws.
In order to arrange any published work not in the public domain, the performing ensemble must be given permission to arrange by the publisher or copyright owner. This assures that the composer of the original receives full credit whenever the work is performed.
The responsibility of procuring Copyright permission, and paying any accompanying fee, lies with the user of the final arrangement - compliance lies with the performer, not the arranger. Even if purchasing an arrangement that is already written, or has been performed in the past, a new permission to arrange agreement needs to be obtained for each group interested in performing the piece.
First Place Designs can handle the rights to arrange for their clients for an additional fee. Usually the client handles this as part of their show selection process. The process is fairly straight forward, but it is possible that rights will be denied. Certain artists and publishers are known to be more difficult than others.
Below is a brief explanation of the permission to arrange process. Anyone going through this should give it plenty of time (this should be started in the spring for the fall band season), and plan on the fact that permission is NOT always granted. Also, this list is for reference. The actual process may vary depending on the specific publisher, composer, or musical works involved.
1. Find information on both the composer and publisher of the piece to be arranged. This can be found by visiting the ASCAP and BMI websites.
2. When this info is acquired, contact the publisher and ask for the person in charge of ‘permission to arrange’ and ask about their permission to arrange policy. Hopefully they will give you a fax number or mailing address to send the permission to arrange request form to.
3. Once you fulfill this part, it’s time to wait. This may take a couple of weeks or a couple of months, but they will respond. You will either find out that permission has been denied (and why), or you will receive permission with accompanying paperwork to sign and mail back to the publisher with requested fees. Rarely are fees for marching bands that significant.
4. At this point, send 1st Place Designs a copy of the rights information so it can be included on the bottom of your final chart, and we will begin the arrangement, or send you the music if it’s a pre-written show. If it’s denied, the process may have to start all over again. That’s why an early start is essential. To pick a show in July or August and expect enough lead-time for rights clearance and arranging is not the way that the marching band activity (or our business) works anymore. Plan ahead!
When going through this process, it is important that you receive permission to arrange, permission to perform, permission to record, permission to display and permission to synchronize the arrangement to a drill video. These may not all apply to your situation, but they are all part of current US Copyright Laws. Ask the publisher when you first contact them.
Another way to navigate this process, and get some initial feedback on the likelihood of permission, is to go through Copycat Music Licensing. They can assist you in this process, and have worked for many bands, drum corps, and color guards to help procure permission for a fee.
Other sources that may help: Bands of America page for Copyright Music Laws, United States Copyright Office., MENC, Music Publishers Association.
