Copyright

Copyright is a law which prohibits anyone from using a piece of material, other than the creator. This law gives the owner of the material exclusive rights to it and only they can give permission for other people to use the material or they can sell their rights. The creator is the only person who has the rights to the material otherwise other people can use it for financial gain. Copyright usually lasts from 50 to 70 years, however the United States law states that a creator or publisher must renew it's copyright every 28 years. A record label can sue any person who uses  a piece of material without having permission or rights to it and anyone who obstructs the copyright law may have a fine to pay.

Applying for copyright - 
As a group me and Olivia (Browne) decided that Christina Aguilera was the artist who we wanted to use for our music video and we both agreed that her music showed a variety of emotions and left us many options for creativity. After choosing which song of Aguilera's we wanted to use we had to contact the record label for permission to use her song and reconstruct our own video. 

What we did - 
We found out which record label Aguilera was signed to and then researched until we found their contact details. We then wrote an email using formal and polite language as we wanted to come across as professional to the record label. We explained to RCA Records that we wished to use the song strictly for educational purposes and that there was no financial gain to be made. It was hard to find the email at first so we contacted RCA Records over the phone (+44 207 361 8000) and asked for the copyright department and they gave us an email address for us to contact and request permission. 

This is the email which we sent three times. However we didn't manage to receive an answer. As we attempted three times and no negative emails or emails prohibiting us from using the track were sent to us we decided that we would use the song.