BRIDE BEWARE: Are You Getting Married and Want the Day on Video?

If you’re a bride in the market for a wedding video, listen up! Records labels are cracking down on videographers who use mainstream music without the rights. It means the chances of your wedding soundtrack including your favorite artists may be slim.

We spoke with a local expert in the Las Vegas wedding film industry. They say this has become huge in the last six to eight months.  They’re choosing to stay clear of popular music, because buying the rights to someone’s favorite song comes with a big price tag.

The music industry has been cracking down on the use of unlicensed songs in wedding videos.

It may have started with the wedding of Tony Romo, the Dallas Cowboys’ quarterback, to Candice Crawford in May. People magazine said the five-minute video they had made “hit the Internet looking more like a blockbuster movie trailer than nuptial footage” — and soon it went viral on YouTube, complete with Coldplay’s “Fix You” as theme music.

The band’s label reportedly sued the Austin-based filmmaker.

The company that made the Romo wedding film reportedly settled with Coldplay’s record label.

Videographers want to avoid that kind of litigation all together.

What does all this mean for you, if you’re getting married and want the day on video? Mainly, photographers say not to be surprised if you can’t have your favorite music as the background track. If you picked a top-40 hit for your first dance, the photographer may be afraid to post it online. Your photographer is unlikely to be sued — but may worry about it if your wedding video becomes a YouTube hit.