oh man what a pondering thing...

[wesley tanner]

SO!

by no fault of my own, I've come across a solo'd vocal track from a VERY popular single (this may have been top 10, or hit the top, but I don't follow enough to really know. it was for sure top 40 with rediculous play on MTV and the like).

ANYWAYS.

I have two deep desires. one, to abuse this track and record my band with some over-dubs of our vocalist playing the song and use it to generate some attention (kinda like those good ol' pop punk covers of pop songs...)

the other one is just to upload it so that the good old folks here could scrutinize it's production and whatnot, and use it for their own remixes/whatev.

would I get sued if we leaked a version of this kinda thing online without permission? no plans to sell it or anything... how much do you guys REALLY want to hear it? ah the wonders.

[fweyd]

it better be a good song

wouldnt know anything about legal issues.. im 17 @_@

all i know is that i bang my drums.... hard

[wesley tanner]

well, believe it or not, you gotta hit those f***ers hard to make um sound good. SPEND TIME LEARNING TO TUNE THEM WELL, and all your recording will go SO much better. and hit um in the center of the head d***it.

I censor for children. ohhhhh snap!

I like the song a lot, actually.

[Theros]

There would be legal issues if it wasnt released to public (leaking), and there would be legal issues if it was released... (posting music for free! )

[DM1]

Originally Posted by wesley tanner

would I get sued if we leaked a version of this kinda thing online without permission?

You could get sued, because someone else owns the copyright so you have no right to distribute it. Whether or not you would get sued depends on how famous the artist is, and whether their label pays protection money to the RIAA.

Originally Posted by wesley tanner

how much do you guys REALLY want to hear it?

I don't condone the activity, but knowledge is power: If you want to share it anonymously, you could throw it up on Rapidshare or Putfile (making sure to access the site through a proxy.)

[bennychico11]

would I get sued if we leaked a version of this kinda thing online without permission?

if you really have to ask that question, then you probably shouldn't do it.
You answered the question yourself by saying "without permission"

honestly, do you really think a famous vocalist/band would be A-OKAY with you taking their stuff and distributing it to other people?...profit or not.

[wesley tanner]

well lots of people aren't okay with things they have no power over -- parody, for example is a protected form of free speech. but yes, I would imagine I could probably get in trouble some ways or another.


maybe I will check to see if it's already been uploaded there....

[smtcharlie]

Well, I'm no expert. But I think that legal action is really a business decision for a company.

For example, if a company thinks that you will lose them ~$100,000 in sales, or that this clip will damage the reputation of the artist (again, with loss of revenue), and they can sue the crap out of you for ~$10,000 in legal fees - they'll probably come after you.

But if this clip is heard by a couple dozen people, doesn't hurt sales, and doesn't hurt the repuatation of the artist, maybe no one will do anything about it.

I think that using the track within one of your songs would be most offensive. Especially if you are going to "abuse" the track and make fun of it (see damage of reputation above...).

[wesley tanner]

no no, we would make NO claim of it being one of our songs. more like, we covered it and he sang with us.

and I don't know that damaging a reputation is legitmate cause for legal action, i'm sure you can think of a dozen examples of it off the top of your head. but I do see where things could go wrong, I was just wondering if anyone knew precident(sic?).

[bennychico11]

Originally Posted by wesley tanner

and I don't know that damaging a reputation is legitmate cause for legal action, i'm sure you can think of a dozen examples of it off the top of your head.

it fits in with libel, slander and defamation
producing false statements about someone (ie. he's apart of your band) that can damage a reputation (ie. your band sucks, and you say he sang with you guys...people don't respect him as a musician after that and in turn don't buy his records).
Fact of the matter is, you didn't record it, you didn't get permission to use it, apparently they didn't release the track voluntarily and you got ahold of it (in other words, someone stole it from the original session)....you don't have the rights to it, period. You want to use it, go through the appropriate hoops to get clearance.
Even covering a song you need the appropriate rights to do so.

[sushi-mon]

Originally Posted by wesley tanner

no no, we would make NO claim of it being one of our songs. more like, we covered it and he sang with us.

and I don't know that damaging a reputation is legitmate cause for legal action, i'm sure you can think of a dozen examples of it off the top of your head. but I do see where things could go wrong, I was just wondering if anyone knew precident(sic?).

The way I see it, it might be a great way to get press. My last band did this kick butt cover of a Black Sabbath song, and we made a lot of our own changes and funked it up a little, and turned it into a blazing jam out. It was always our closing song.

I actually have thought about recording it and putting it on a release, and not seeking the proper (probably impossible permission). Hell, I would like nothing better than to be sued by Ozzy Osbourne ! I might actually sell some records this time around !

[chessrock]

Who even gives a crap about it?

Seriously. If by some nearly impossible coincidence about even with getting struck by lighting ... the artist ever did get a chance to hear someone butchering his/her song ...

... he / she would probably get a kick out of it. Probably laugh their asses off over some amateur laying ultra-shitty backing tracks over their voice. Hell, I'd probably spit up my dinner if it were me.

.

[noisewreck]

I don't know, but I'd like to hear it put through one of those Metasonix Butt Plug thingies

[grn]

you can legally cover songs - any song - without the artists permission, just if you sell it you have to pay mechanical royalties... unless you strike up some licensing deal where they waive the fee (which I like better)

[wesley tanner]

http://rapidshare.de/files/13578017/...ella_.mp3.html

[wesley tanner]

anyone listen? production notes? anything you find interesting?

[Mindcore]

I'm surprised that I still can't tell what he's saying.

I'm actually shocked at how much processing is on that track. I love that song, always felt it had a nice raw garagy sound. Now I look back at my music and think that I might be missing something.

[DM1]

I agree with Mindcore .. The track is heavily processed, but doesn't sound it in the mix. Somebody knows what they're doing!

Something that struck me about this and the Beastie Boys acapella tracks is the use of delay. On the raw tracks, it's so obvious, but the short delay seems to disappear in the mix. It never works for me that way ... Maybe it's just something to do with the style of music.

Anyway, thanks for sharing it!!

[brendandwyer]

If the track was leaked without permission, you could be sued for accepting stolen copyrighted music, if you use it as a sample in your own original music you could be sued for use of copyrighted material.

I've heard of bands & labels being sued for un licensed samples less than 30 sec long for $5000-10,000. You're talking about an entire vocal track questionably obtained. I would beware.

[SouthSIDE Glen]

Originally Posted by bennychico11

if you really have to ask that question, then you probably shouldn't do it.

Benny hit the nail on the head.

Let's cut through the baloney; Wes, you already know that you shouldn't do it, and you knew that the instant that recording hit your hands.

You are asking us either for excuses or rationalizations for modifying or distributing it, or at least the odds on getting away with doing something that you know you probably shouldn't.

Look, keep it simple. Use your gut and decide whether this may break the golden rule or not and if you care whether it breaks the golden rule or not. Then act accordingly.

G.