copyright infrinegment - please help

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stephklish

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Dose any one know if a copyright can be put on the melody of the way the singer sings the song
The music was made & copywrote & a singer wrote lyrics to it and put a way to sing the lyrics to the song an now he tells me he has copywrote the style in which he sang it or as he put it the melody of the way he sang the song.
Please help
Steph
 
If its the same exact pitch and tempo, I believe so.
 
I don't think an interpretation of an original work can be copyrighted, and I'm pretty sure it would be thrown out in court.
 
Let me get this right - someone wrote the music with melody first. Then someone else put words and a DIFFERENT melody to it and now wants to copyright it.

When a copyright infringement occurs it has to be similar...

For example, GhostBusters lost against I Wanna New Drug - that song has same underlying chord progression but the melody was different.

For sure if the melodies are similar along with the underlying music the original copyright would win.

For example, My Sweet Lord lost against He's So Fine - both songs sounded pretty close to the same melody. That was an easier one than the first example.

So the original copyright might just stand here (melody notwithstanding)..... Are both the underlying music and melody the same (in any way) in the second version?

ido1957
:D :) :D :)
 
stephklish said:
1.)The music was made & copywrote
2.) a singer wrote lyrics to it and put a way to sing the lyrics to the song
Click to expand...

If you gave permission for the singer to use the music, per the copyright laws, you both have 50/50 copyright on the finished song.

Did the singer use your recorded version of the music to register his copyright?

If you registered a recording of the music as well as the music it would be infringement...

How did the singer get a hold of your music? Did you hire him?

Just a few gray areas that might get brought up in court... But unless either of you are losing big bucks on the song, it might not be worth the trouble going to court... ?
 
re

fraserhutch said:
I don't think an interpretation of an original work can be copyrighted, and I'm pretty sure it would be thrown out in court.
Click to expand...
This is the story I wrote ,composed & arrangnged the music .
Hired a singer into the band - he wrote lyrics to the music aready completed & sang to the way the music was wrote & arranged .
Dose he have the right to copyright the way the lyrics are sung - the melody of the he is singing ithe lyrics.
 
gray area

BentRabbit said:
If you gave permission for the singer to use the music, per the copyright laws, you both have 50/50 copyright on the finished song.

Did the singer use your recorded version of the music to register his copyright?

If you registered a recording of the music as well as the music it would be infringement...

How did the singer get a hold of your music? Did you hire him?

Just a few gray areas that might get brought up in court... But unless either of you are losing big bucks on the song, it might not be worth the trouble going to court... ?
Click to expand...
I Hired him to put lyrics to the music i had already composed ,arranged - he wrote the lyrics to the melody of the song
I don't want to keep his lyrics , but hes telling me i cant use the way he is singing them in the song - henss the melody of the way he sings them
got any idea if he can copyright the way he sings them in the song
 
idol1597- close

ido1957 said:
Let me get this right - someone wrote the music with melody first. Then someone else put words and a DIFFERENT melody to it and now wants to copyright it.

When a copyright infringement occurs it has to be similar...

For example, GhostBusters lost against I Wanna New Drug - that song has same underlying chord progression but the melody was different.

For sure if the melodies are similar along with the underlying music the original copyright would win.

For example, My Sweet Lord lost against He's So Fine - both songs sounded pretty close to the same melody. That was an easier one than the first example.

So the original copyright might just stand here (melody notwithstanding)..... Are both the underlying music and melody the same (in any way) in the second version?

ido1957
:D :) :D :)
Click to expand...
I wrote the music ,composed & arranged all the music for this song, hired a vocalist into the band to sing ,write lyrics (his job),
Now we have parted ways & hes telling me he copy wrote the melody to the way he sings the lyrics thru the song ( other words ) - he copy wrote the way he sings the melody - the way he put vocal arrangement to the song .
Now if the music was wrote first & he would have to sing to the music
would that hold up in court to copyright the way he sang the lyrics to the music which was their so he could sing too
I dont care to keep his lyrics he can have them
Help me mr wizard.
Steph
 
There's only one solution.

KILL HIM!............;)
 
When you say he 'copy wrote' the way he sings it, what do you mean?

Did he send a CD with him singing to the copyright office along with the required fees and register the work?

Copyright occurs AT the creation of the work... Registering with the gubment protects your work BUT IS NOT COPYRIGHTING.

So if he sent in a copy of your copyrighted music with him singing to it, sounds like he's in the wrong...

But you said that he wrote the lyrics and sang them to your music... (at your request) That would be 50/50 ownership for both of you on the finished song... You: Music and Arrangement - Singer: Words/Lyrics

I'm still confused as to the melody portion... Did he create the melody line for his lyrics and substitute it in place of a melody line you had already written? Or did he create the melody line over your chord progression?

You might want to post examples so we can get an idea of what you're dealing with... Although, your best bet would probably be to take the recordings to a lawyer who deals with copyright laws...

:)
 
Right. I don't believe an interpretation of a song is copyrightable. The lyrics are. But an interpretation????

Now, if his interpretation changed the melody enough to make in a NEW song, then potentially he has a point, but in that case I would never work with him again and I would put the word out about it. That sort of shit tends to ensure that you'll never work again.

Now, of course, this is really all moot unless you guys actually make any money from the song. I would bet that copyrights are moot for over 95% of the people here.

Choose anoither partner in the future and work this shit out BEFORE hand if copyright are an issue to you.
 
BentRabbit said:
When you say he 'copy wrote' the way he sings it, what do you mean?

Did he send a CD with him singing to the copyright office along with the required fees and register the work?

Copyright occurs AT the creation of the work... Registering with the gubment protects your work BUT IS NOT COPYRIGHTING.

So if he sent in a copy of your copyrighted music with him singing to it, sounds like he's in the wrong...

But you said that he wrote the lyrics and sang them to your music... (at your request) That would be 50/50 ownership for both of you on the finished song... You: Music and Arrangement - Singer: Words/Lyrics

I'm still confused as to the melody portion... Did he create the melody line for his lyrics and substitute it in place of a melody line you had already written? Or did he create the melody line over your chord progression?

You might want to post examples so we can get an idea of what you're dealing with... Although, your best bet would probably be to take the recordings to a lawyer who deals with copyright laws...

:)
Click to expand...
He created the melody line to or over the cord progression i had already recorded.
no their were no words to the song , but thats not the issue because im not going to use his lyrics & i sent a copyright in cd form to the copyright office in my name with lyrics & recorded music on it but - like i said i won't use his lyrics because thats the kinda guy i am - i dont steal from other musicians.
Even if my copyriht is recorded first & i have all rights to it all his lyrics are nolonger a subject new lyrics are being put to the song,
I just need to know if he can copyright the way he sang the melody of the song to the way i already had the music chord progression layed down .
Thanks for your help.
 
fraserhutch said:
Right. I don't believe an interpretation of a song is copyrightable. The lyrics are. But an interpretation????

Now, if his interpretation changed the melody enough to make in a NEW song, then potentially he has a point, but in that case I would never work with him again and I would put the word out about it. That sort of shit tends to ensure that you'll never work again.

Now, of course, this is really all moot unless you guys actually make any money from the song. I would bet that copyrights are moot for over 95% of the people here.

Choose anoither partner in the future and work this shit out BEFORE hand if copyright are an issue to you.
Click to expand...
Ok bro ya i will never work with him again nor will the rest of my band & we do have a new singer & we have talked this out because he sees what the band is going thru at this time with the old singers pissant bull crap - calling me up telling me to take all our music off the website & that he copywrote everything lyric wise with ASCAP
& how i can only put the music on the website with out his vocals .
Thats all fine with me but then he calls me up to tell me that our new vocalist cant sing the songs the same way he sung them because he copywrote the way he sung them.
And yes we do make money from our cd's
Hell i even asked him to sell me the lyrics or we will do the royalty thing - but he said not on his life - hes just being a prick -(excuse my french ).
Any ways bro what do ya think or know about this delema i have with this melody crap.
Peace
Steph.
 
Here is my understanding of a song copyright. In general you cannot copyright a chord progression (I'm sure there are exceptions to this). Usually the song melody and lyrics are what gets the copyright. If your previous singer wrote an original melody and lyrics for your chord progression then he has copyrights to that melody and those lyrics. (I suppose you both would have copyrights on that version of the song - like Lennon - McCartney).

If you write a completely different melody and lyrics for those chords then you will have copyrights to that version of the song and he will have none.
 
If you got the copyright application in before he did, then you probably have the legal advantage in this case. If the registered copyright has only your name on it, then you can claim the entirety of the work (although you said you wouldn't use his lyrics).

If he wrote the melody that he sang, then the melody is by rights his. However, since you wrote the chord progression and presumably helped him shape the melody, you can also claim it. You would both own it.

If you wrote the melody that he sang, and he only added interpretation to it (inflections, vocal tones, etc.), then the melody is yours. As said before, interpretation of a melody cannot be copyrighted.
 
i say screw him...call his bluff.
dont take his calls..dont answer his e-mails ect...
If he actually did copyright something (which i highly doubt) then hatch it out in court..but like someone said earlier...95% of us musicians dont copyright..so call his bluff and he will go away. :D
 
ive heard this happen to a few friends of mine....basically its never gonna matter unles you guys start going double-platinum tomorrow! Try settle it amicably, though he sounds like an ass. It also sounds like he wouldn't have a leg to stand on from a legal point of view, as it would be difficult to prove who came up with the melody etc....even if you went to small claims court, im pretty sure theyd throw it out....theres people on trial for serious things, so i woudn't listen to him. good luck dude.
 
I think what matters in this case is you hired the guy to come up with the lyrics/melody. If you paid him to do that you own it.



Violent5
 
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