Editing Tricks for Amateur Vacation Video #93

Asia Cruise 2008:  Hong Kong Is
land

My previous post included a long essay about the dangers of using copyrighted music as a "placeholder".  But sometimes a song just screams at you, begging to be included.  Such is the case with Screamin' Jay Hawkins' aptly-named Hong Kong.

This song is hilarious; I knew before I left home that it would become part of the permanent record.  Of course that was before I became a copyright advocate.  This video is placed here for your education.  Music used for non-profit educational purposes or which is obviously transformative (consider this a music video?) may qualify as "fair use".

As a video enthusiast I occasionally enter my creations into club contests; "Fair use" might work for something being shown at a club meeting, but organizers of larger contest are likely to demand an actual artist's release.  I am hardly an expert, but suggest you begin your own research into this topic here on Wikipedia.

The video consists of scenes that were mostly taken on Kowloon Island.  But I also re-used some scenes from the previous chapter (Hong Kong - Kowloon).

Lessons Learned:

Be aware of copyright restrictions when you choose commercial music.  (Note: YouTube put up a violation flag for this video.  I am neither disputing nor acknowledging the alleged violation.)

Suggestion:

If I change the music I would need to completely re-envision this video.  At this point in time it will stand, unchanged.  I would not have posted it onto YouTube except to illustrate this blog on henbc.com

HENBC.COM is here to help those of us who have already taken hours of long boring vacation video.  It's too late for advice on how to use your camera; you need help to transform your boring footage into something that friends will enjoy watching!  WWW.HENBC.COM