“Sita Sings the Blues” was released in 2008 only after long negotiations with the copyright holders of the 80-year-old songs recorded by Annette Hanshaw. Following the experience of almost having her film blocked from distribution, Nina Paley released it freely under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license, and now devotes a significant portion of her time to free culture activism. She is Artist in Residence at the non-profit QuestionCopyright.org.
“Sita Sings the Blues” is based on the Hindu epic “The Ramayana”. Sita is a goddess separated from her beloved Lord and husband Rama. Nina Paley is an animator whose husband moves to India, then dumps her by email. Three hilarious shadow puppets narrate both ancient tragedy and modern comedy in this beautifully animated interpretation of the Ramayana. Set to the 1920’s jazz vocals of torch singer Annette Hanshaw, Sita Sings the Blues earns its tagline as “the Greatest Break-Up Story Ever Told.” It is written, directed, produced and animated by American artist Nina Paley.
If you’d like to help pay off the $50,000.00 loan she took out to pay the music monopoly fee, you can donate to the Sita Distribution Project (tax-deductible in the US) at http://questioncopyright.org/sita_dis… . Donations to that project go exclusively to that purpose and other expenses Nina incurred in releasing the film. You can also purchase DVDs, prints, shirts, and other Sita-related merchandise at http://questioncopyright.com/sita.html ; revenue is shared with Nina Paley.
For more about the film and about Nina Paley’s other work, see http://sitasingstheblues.com .
To determine how much to send the song licensors, you must determine where you are selling the DVD in question: The United States, Canada, British Territories, or the World. Choose the corresponding column and pay ONLY THE AMOUNT IN THAT COLUMN. Do NOT use more than one column – according to particle physics, a DVD can only be in one place at a time (this is a rare instance of copyright law corresponding to the Laws of Physics).
NOTE: If you examine this chart carefully, you’ll notice everything doesn’t add up to 100%. That’s because these “rights” have been traded and divided up so many times, for so long, even the “owners” can’t agree on how much they “own.” Of our shared culture.
| Send this amount per DVD if you’re… | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Licensor (make check to) |
Address (send check to) |
in the US | in Canada | in British Territories | anywhere else in the World | Which songs? | ||||
| WARNER/CHAPPELL MUSIC, INC. | 10585 Santa Monica Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90025-4950 |
$0.938 | $1.050 | $0.687 | $1.050 | Am I Blue 100% Here We Are I’ve Got a Feeling I’m Falling Lover Come Back To Me Moanin’ Low If You Want the Rainbow (You Must Have the Rain) Who’s That Knockin’ At My Door |
||||
| EMI MUSIC PUBLISHING LIMITED | 27 Wrights Lane London W8 5SW |
$0 | $0 | $0.175 | $0 | Here We Are 50% BRTs | ||||
| SONY ATV MUSIC PUBLISHING | 8 Music Square West Nashville, TN 37203 |
$0.300 | $0.300 | $0.300 | $0.300 | Daddy Won’t You Please Come Home? 100%
What I Wouldn’t Do For that Man 100% |
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| SONGWRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA | 209 Tenth Avenue South Ste. 321 Nashville, TN 37203 |
$0.05 | $0 | $0 | $0 | Mean to Me – ?%*
If You Want the Rainbow (You Must Have the Rain) 33.33 (US Only)/16.66 (World) |
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| WILLIAMSON MUSIC | 229 West 28th Street New York, NY 10001 |
$0.225 | $0.150 | $0.150 | $0.150 | Lover Come Back To Me 50% US only
The Song Is Ended 100% |
||||
| CROMWELL MUSIC, INC. | 266 West 37th Street 17th Floor New York, NY 10018 |
$0.068 | $0 | $0 | $0 | Mean to Me 45% (US Only) | ||||
| MEMORY LANE MUSIC GROUP | 501 Seventh Ave., Ste. 512 New York, NY 10018 |
|
|
|
|
Mean to Me 27.50% (US, BRTs and Canada only)/19.25% (World) | ||||
| BUG MUSIC | 7750 Sunset Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90046 |
$0.09 | $0.04 | $0.04 | $0.04 | Mean to Me 27.5% World
If You Want the Rainbow (You Must Have the Rain) 33.34 (US Only) = 16.67% of the world fee |
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Now here’s the same chart, with the amounts to pay per 5000 DVDs:
| Send this amount per 5000 DVDs if you’re… | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Licensor (make check to) |
Address (send check to) |
in the US | in Canada | in British Territories | anywhere else in the World | Which songs? | ||||
| WARNER/CHAPPELL MUSIC, INC. | 10585 Santa Monica Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90025-4950 |
$4690.0 | $5250.00 | $3435.00 | $5250.00 | Am I Blue 100% Here We Are I’ve Got a Feeling I’m Falling Lover Come Back To Me Moanin’ Low If You Want the Rainbow (You Must Have the Rain) Who’s That Knockin’ At My Door |
||||
| EMI MUSIC PUBLISHING LIMITED | 27 Wrights Lane London W8 5SW |
$0 | $0 | $875.0 | $0 | Here We Are 50% BRTs | ||||
| SONY ATV MUSIC PUBLISHING | 8 Music Square West Nashville, TN 37203 |
$1500.0 | $1500.0 | $1500.0 | $1500.0 | Daddy Won’t You Please Come Home? 100%
What I Wouldn’t Do For that Man 100% |
||||
| SONGWRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA | 209 Tenth Avenue South Ste. 321 Nashville, TN 37203 |
$250.0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | Mean to Me – ?%*
If You Want the Rainbow (You Must Have the Rain) 33.33 (US Only)/16.66 (World) |
||||
| WILLIAMSON MUSIC | 229 West 28th Street New York, NY 10001 |
$1125.0 | $750.0 | $750.0 | $750.0 | Lover Come Back To Me 50% US only
The Song Is Ended 100% |
||||
| CROMWELL MUSIC, INC. | 266 West 37th Street 17th Floor New York, NY 10018 |
$340.0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | Mean to Me 45% (US Only) | ||||
| MEMORY LANE MUSIC GROUP | 501 Seventh Ave., Ste. 512 New York, NY 10018 |
|
|
|
|
Mean to Me 27.50% (US, BRTs and Canada only)/19.25% (World) | ||||
| BUG MUSIC | 7750 Sunset Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90046 |
$450.0 | $200.0 | $200.0 | $200.0 | Mean to Me 27.5% World
If You Want the Rainbow (You Must Have the Rain) 33.34 (US Only) = 16.67% of the world fee |
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