Credit for karaoke music?
- Thread starter Hannah32
- Start date
Steenamaroo
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Technically you'd need permission even to do that.
Personally I'd probably credit the site or creator and leave it at that but technically, and legally, that's not enough.
Personally I'd probably credit the site or creator and leave it at that but technically, and legally, that's not enough.
rob aylestone
Moderator
A karaoke tracks are intended for live performance, most purchases do give you more rights than a standard audio recording, but re-recording them is usually one of the restrictions.
Steenamaroo
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Rob makes a good point. If you've paid for these backing tracks you may have certain permissions. Are they paid for and is there any paperwork you can check?
Lol. PRS in the UK aren't beneath hitting shop owners with license fees over whistling while they work.
I'm not joking....google it!
Not to long ago, you may have been breaking the law by publicly performing this famous song in a restaurant....
'Happy Birthday' copyright case details revealed - UPI.com
Lol. PRS in the UK aren't beneath hitting shop owners with license fees over whistling while they work.
I'm not joking....google it!
Steenamaroo
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I guess the same as Soundcloud posters.
Legally they shouldn't touch it (I guess?) but in practice they're just going to go ahead.
On the other hand, is it safe to assume that it's the responsibility of the artist to arrange licenses and clearance for samples? I don't know that for sure either.
Legally they shouldn't touch it (I guess?) but in practice they're just going to go ahead.
On the other hand, is it safe to assume that it's the responsibility of the artist to arrange licenses and clearance for samples? I don't know that for sure either.
Thanks for your replies.
I did not purchase tracks- just found them on youtube and didn't think there would be an issue...now I'm stumped as to what I can do if I want to sing with music?! I'm pretty sure I've watched others sing to karaoke in youtube videos but perhaps they are just taking chances...?
I did not purchase tracks- just found them on youtube and didn't think there would be an issue...now I'm stumped as to what I can do if I want to sing with music?! I'm pretty sure I've watched others sing to karaoke in youtube videos but perhaps they are just taking chances...?
Steenamaroo
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Setting the legalities and technicalities aside, here's what is likely to happen in real life.
You record the thing - the studio doesn't care...they take your money.
You put it on youtube and you get a matched content notification and the option to appeal. Don't appeal - you don't own the material.
You acknowledge that there's 3rd party copyright and everyone has a happy life.
This is simply youtube letting you know that there is copyrighted material. It's not coming from the copyright owner or anything like that.
That outcome seems to be the most common, in my limited experience, but it is possible for a copyright owner to request that youtube have it blocked in certain countries, or removed.
If the latter happens, you get a strike.
As I understand it Youtube is 3 strikes and you're out.
I've posted maybe 10 covers on youtube, all recorded from scratch. Youtube has immediately identified all of them (felt pretty good about that
) but nothing happened beyond that. Some have been up for 4-5 years.
Soundcloud is good fun. I've posted plenty of covers up there and never had an issue.
On the other hand, I've posted material that I co-wrote, produced, released, and registered with royalty collection agencies, only to have Soundcloud remove it on copyright grounds! lol
I had to appeal it and tell them who I was.
Hope that's useful.
Last edited:
rob aylestone
Moderator
Soundcloud have been getting grief about copyright for a while now, and have promised to be more like YouTube and identify copyright infringements.
As a newcomer you have to understand that music has an owner who can control what happens with it. PRS and PPL who are the agents are merging, so expect even more monitoring. In practice, the agencies do t care that much about somebody putting stuff on soundcloud for fun. If you start to make money from it, that's different. So the law says you must not steal music from YouTube and put your own voice to it, but like a 20mph speed limit near a school, loads of people break the law and nothing happens. Knock a child down and things change rapidly. If your soundcloud clip becomes viral, then the copyright owner is going to become interested.
Karaoke tracks are a bit odd. The person who recorded them and then sold them should have paid for copyright clearance, but this is usually permission to perform with the track. Recording using it and then rereleasing is a different thing. In practice, using any track where you don't know the source causes problems if, and only if, people spot it. I can tell you that when you hear somebody singing to one of your own tracks that they shouldn't have, really winds me up. Had it twice now. First time I was oddly quite happy, sort of a bit proud. Ten years later, same thing, and I got a bit grumpy.
It's really down to your morals and attitude. Grief is unlikely, and if you can live with it, fine. Doesn't make it right though.
As a newcomer you have to understand that music has an owner who can control what happens with it. PRS and PPL who are the agents are merging, so expect even more monitoring. In practice, the agencies do t care that much about somebody putting stuff on soundcloud for fun. If you start to make money from it, that's different. So the law says you must not steal music from YouTube and put your own voice to it, but like a 20mph speed limit near a school, loads of people break the law and nothing happens. Knock a child down and things change rapidly. If your soundcloud clip becomes viral, then the copyright owner is going to become interested.
Karaoke tracks are a bit odd. The person who recorded them and then sold them should have paid for copyright clearance, but this is usually permission to perform with the track. Recording using it and then rereleasing is a different thing. In practice, using any track where you don't know the source causes problems if, and only if, people spot it. I can tell you that when you hear somebody singing to one of your own tracks that they shouldn't have, really winds me up. Had it twice now. First time I was oddly quite happy, sort of a bit proud. Ten years later, same thing, and I got a bit grumpy.
It's really down to your morals and attitude. Grief is unlikely, and if you can live with it, fine. Doesn't make it right though.