Need to get rights to Arrange "Thriller"

I am planning on arranging "Thriller" by Michael Jackson and I need to get permission to do so legally. I was told by a third party (a copyright person in the UK) to email enquiries@chrysalis.com in order to get the rights for the USA. I have done so, but they are yet to return the message. Seeing as I am just some nobody trying to arrange a piece for his local high school jazz band I did not expect a response to begin with. Does anyone have any inside info on how to do this legally?

contact the copyright holder. That's it.

Yeah, it's as easy as looking up the album on google, seeing who holds the copyrights, and contacting them. Tell them what exactly you're using the song for and where, probably. As long as you aren't making a profit, it should be a pretty simple process.

well i emailed chrysalis (which i was told by the UK publisher was the US publisher that i needed to get ahold of) and they have yet to respond... and i really dont think i'm gonna get a response

Well what you could do is find out who collects royalties for Chrysalis is it ASCAP or BMI ? I'd try ASCAP or BMI first as they may have something worked out with Chrysalis where they take care of granting copyright as they collect royalties for the publisher.

Also the e-mail address you sent it to looks like a general mail box which receives dozens or hundreds of emails a day - especially with jackson's death.

Okay well I finally found the AMERICAN site for Chrysalis :P Chrysalis Music Publishing

I assume the correct form is the Commercial License form... but I want to see what you guys here think. Or maybe should I just try to contact the head honcho's directly?

To be honest, I expect the publishers dealing with MJ's music are pretty hardcore... I hope you have a serious budget for securing these arranging rights.

or should I be trying to contact one of these people?

Carol King – Senior Director, Copyright

Mike Fink – Director, Mechanical Licensing

Mark Roble – Manager, Mechanical Licensing

Josh Mancuso – Manager, Copyright

Tracie Yawata – Copyright Coordinator

You may also need to fill out one of these forms. For example I use this one rather than the one by the Music Publisher's Assoc and the Nat. Music Publishers assoc.

Its based on the form by them, which is acceptable. However, its up to the copyright holder's decision on which form to use, theirs or the prepared one by the MPA and NMPA.

http://hectorosanchez.hostei.com/web_documents/pta_revised.pdf

Uh...arranging rights are usually done by Harry Fox.

Listen, if your just going to perform this song live, there really is no need to get a permission... how do you think millions of club bands work... I doubt it they have a permission to perform every song in their repertoire. If you want to get it recorded and published.. then you need copyright permission.