Right of a song cover for a short film
<p>I want to use the song Dirty Diana covered buy The Weeknd for a short film with no lucrative purpose. Do I still need to get the rights and if so how can I do it?</p>

<p>Yes. You need to get the rights.</p>

<p>There is a right to produce a cover of a song for a statutory royalty and, for example, sell copies of the song and play it on the radio. These are called the "little rights".</p>

<p>There is not a right to use a song in a TV show or film without permission from the copyright holder. These are called the "big rights" and must be individually negotiated with the holder of the copyright.</p>

<p>You would need to identify who holds the copyright (which can be done by inspection of the recordings for sale at a store, for example) and then you would need to contact them asking for a license to use the copyrighted material.</p>

<p>Generally, using an entire song in a film, even if it is not intended to make much money, is not fair use.</p>

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