Music Theatre International, Australasia - User Generated Content Guidelines

Music Theatre International wants theatre performers to showcase their passion for MTI shows! Many of you have asked how to do so, especially during the time that COVID-19 shutdowns have cancelled or postponed your productions.

To give you some guidance about how to create fan videos that do not run afoul of copyright law and the rights of authors, music publishers, and other third parties, MTI has created these User Generated Content Guidelines for Fan Videos. Please note that these guidelines should not be considered legal advice; rather, MTI is simply offering these suggestions by aggregating what has previously been acceptable to rightsholders.

In general, MTI itself will not object to, or take legal action against, videos that are non-professional and amateur and meet the following guidelines. MTI cannot guarantee that any third party will not object to fan videos and cannot be responsible for any claims arising from the creation and posting of these videos, as MTI does not control the music publishing and audiovisual rights to its musicals. Following these guidelines, however, will likely minimize the likelihood of any legal action:

  1. Your Fan Video should be less than 5 minutes long and not include more than one complete song. You should not make changes in the song.

  1. Your Fan Video must be a true "fan" production. In other words, all participants should be amateurs, cannot be paid for their services, and should not be employed on any professional production of the MTI musical from which the song was taken.

  1. Your Fan Video should ideally be posted on a private platform (e.g., school intranet). Care should be taken when posting on social media that the private, non-commercial nature of the Fan Video is maintained.

  1. Your Fan Video must be non-commercial. That means the Fan Video:

  • Should only be exhibited for free on social media, YouTube, etc. and/or shared via streaming services without generating ticket or pay per view revenue.

  • Should not be used to derive advertising revenue.

  • Should not be distributed in a physical format such as DVD or Blu-ray.

  1. Your Fan Video should be faithful to the spirit of the original material and should not include any harmful or illegal activity, or any material that is offensive, fraudulent, defamatory, disparaging, sexually explicit, threatening, hateful, or any other inappropriate content. The content of the Fan Video cannot violate any individual's right of privacy or publicity.

  1. You should obtain releases from any individuals appearing in the Fan Video other than yourself and if participants are under 18, those releases should come from their parent/guardian.

  1. You should not register Fan Videos under copyright or trademark law.

  1. If third-party content is used in the video (for example, choreography), all necessary permissions should be obtained in writing. If you use your own choreography, even better!

  1. Fan Videos cannot create or imply any association or endorsement by MTI, the authors or the rightsholders.

  1. You agree that MTI may repost your Fan Video through its social media platforms.

  1. MTI may monitor Fan Videos posted on social media and may require any videos that violate these guidelines to be removed.

  1. Note that YouTube's Content ID program also permits the posting of user-generated music videos under certain conditions. See https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2797370?hl=en

MTI reserves the right to revise or revoke these Fan Video Guidelines at any time in its sole discretion. These guidelines are not a license and do not constitute approval or authorization of any Fan Videos or a waiver of any rights that MTI or the rightsholders may have with respect to videos created outside of these guidelines.