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Puff the Magic Dragon ()
Puff the Magic Dragon: a film by the My Company and the song written and composed by Peter Yarrow and Lenny Lipton – Puff the Magic Dragon is an animated videotape chosen by one of the documentary’s non-verbal autistic subjects to watch while he visits his mother from his group home. His choice of the film is deliberate and one which he makes almost every time he visits his mother. It supports his mother’s on-camera statement that he tries to communicate with her about himself through this movie, which tells the story of a boy who cannot talk or communicate in any way.
See more videos in "Refrigerator Mothers - Purchased Clips."
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NOTES: This element illustrates the complexity and confusion in which one can become engulfed in licensing footage and music, a process that is not only time-consuming but often unexpectedly costly to filmmakers. A Fair-Use argument exists for use of this footage because the images and music are part of a videotape deliberately and naturally chosen by one of the documentary’s subjects. However, because we used so much of the animated video and because we show our subject enjoying it in the way the creators may have intended, we decided we wanted to try to license this footage.
ACTION: We received permission directly from Peter Yarrow, owner of the My Company and co-composer of the song, to use both the footage and the 15 seconds of accompanying background music at no cost for all media, in perpetuity. Subsequently, however, while negotiating rights for a separate, unrelated song with Warner Chappell Music Publishing, we were informed that the company owned rights to the song “Puff the Magic Dragon,” and that Yarrow, the artist, did not have authority to license the work to us. The resulting fee was approximately $1,800 for the use of 15 seconds of music.
ACTION: We received permission directly from Peter Yarrow, owner of the My Company and co-composer of the song, to use both the footage and the 15 seconds of accompanying background music at no cost for all media, in perpetuity. Subsequently, however, while negotiating rights for a separate, unrelated song with Warner Chappell Music Publishing, we were informed that the company owned rights to the song “Puff the Magic Dragon,” and that Yarrow, the artist, did not have authority to license the work to us. The resulting fee was approximately $1,800 for the use of 15 seconds of music.