Cover tune policy for forums?

  • Thread starter Thread starter DimChandeliers
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So Chili, what your saying is...

Chili said:
Guitar camp?? Eagle's tune?? Were you drunk?? :eek: That's probably the reason they came after you. :D

Hey Terry, like I wrote in a pm, no one is going to check if you have secured a license to cover a tune and post it. (except, evidently, the Eagles).
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Go ahead and do it. It's o.k. as long as you don't get caught! I don't know if I'm comfortable with this arrangement. I clicked on the previous post ,(Harry Fox agency guy) which explains the new rules and it appears to be pretty ironclad legally. However, and I'm not looking for a loophole here, it is my understanding that uploading an MP3 to a website is the opposite of downloading. Downloading being when the song is listened to, ripped or burned. My question was, if the particular site, in my case my own site on Myspace, does not allow downloads of the songs, am I legal? I take it the answer is NO! They have covered all the bases and that's a good thing for musicians and song writers who earn their living by the sweat of their brow. I have said before that I'm totally against free music but, Why doesn't The Harry Fox agency, BMI and ASCAP do more to protect musicians and song writers from record companies ! If I had a dime for every singer, band or song writer that these rich vultures have screwed out of their rightful profits for their authored works, I'd be a Millionaire!
 
Terry Wetzel said:
Go ahead and do it. It's o.k. as long as you don't get caught! I don't know if I'm comfortable with this arrangement.
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I don't think that's what he's saying, he is simply saying that this forum is not in the business of policing it. You do what you do, at your own risk, and this forum disclaims any responsibility. It'd be a different matter entirely if this forum were actually hosting the files. I'd say the party with the most potential culpability is Soundclick... though I imagine they make you say that you licensed it; I don't know, I'm not on there. Reverbnation makes you validate your rights to any tune you upload.

Safest thing: License your covers.
 
I've posted at least 50 covers in here without a problem. No one really cares.
 
Shouldn't HR have to pay BMI and ASCAP since they are allowing cover songs to be posted here? Just like any other venue has to.
 
bigtom said:
Shouldn't HR have to pay BMI and ASCAP since they are allowing cover songs to be posted here? Just like any other venue has to.
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No, the hosting party would if they were found to be insufficiently policing their artists. (Soundclick, et al). Youtube polices their videos, but this forum would not be in trouble if someone linked to a video here. HR cannot control what places members link to... but the content providers CAN control if there is unlicensed content on their servers. See "Napster 1.0"...
 
Greg_L said:
I've posted at least 50 covers in here without a problem. No one really cares.
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That's the prevailing wisdom, yes. Doesn't make it legal, mind you. There's no money changing hands, so there's not a lot to go after and just too many to go after...
 
Llarion said:
I don't think that's what he's saying, he is simply saying that this forum is not in the business of policing it. You do what you do, at your own risk, and this forum disclaims any responsibility. It'd be a different matter entirely if this forum were actually hosting the files. I'd say the party with the most potential culpability is Soundclick... though I imagine they make you say that you licensed it; I don't know, I'm not on there. Reverbnation makes you validate your rights to any tune you upload.

Safest thing: License your covers.
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Correct, I'm speaking of the mods here at HR; we won't check if someone has a mechanical license for a song. That's between the person and the site hosting the song. Soundclick does ask if you have the proper license when posting a song to their site, but they don't verify your statement.
From the HFA website: $15 set up fee and statutory rate (9.1 cents per song per download) to license a song. A license for digital download is valid for one year.

Terry Wetzel said:
However, and I'm not looking for a loophole here, it is my understanding that uploading an MP3 to a website is the opposite of downloading.
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While technically, uploading is the opposite of downloading, that's not what the license is talking about. You are making a song available to the public. But, because Myspace doesn't allow downloads, that might make a difference, the license is specifically for downloads. I don't know on that one.

But in the end, you do what you feel comfortable doing.
 
Teah, but....

Greg_L said:
I've posted at least 50 covers in here without a problem. No one really cares.
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You don't understand! I was the kid who always got blamed for just looking guilty! I think my best move here is to just not post any more covers, here or anywhere. What I intend to do is post some of my old original songs on the myspace site, since they were written by my brother and I and released by 2 different record labels both in the states and in Europe. If that doesn't make them legal I give up! Myspace keeps track of number of plays each song gets. Can I then collect royaltys based on the number of plays? I'm opening a whole new can of worms!
 
Funny, I just posted a cover tune in the clinic and then was scrolling through some of the other threads and found this.

Obviously, I took the "risk" and posted a link here. But, for the record, I'm not trying to make money, just music. Basically, I'm just recording an acoustic "album" half of which are covers I think are cool to send to some musician friends of mine because there's an off chance I might be starting a band with them in the near future.

As long as you're not selling the cover, I think it's ok IMO. BTW Soundclick allowed cover uploads, but it had to go in the subgenre of "Cover Songs".
 
Is the "Nietzsche" you referr to ...

Llarion said:
I don't think that's what he's saying, he is simply saying that this forum is not in the business of policing it. You do what you do, at your own risk, and this forum disclaims any responsibility. It'd be a different matter entirely if this forum were actually hosting the files. I'd say the party with the most potential culpability is Soundclick... though I imagine they make you say that you licensed it; I don't know, I'm not on there. Reverbnation makes you validate your rights to any tune you upload.

Safest thing: License your covers.
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... the same producer who F----D UP Rick nelsons "Playing To Win Album". If so, I'm lad he's dead! If not, My condolensce!
 
Is the "Nietzsche" you referr to ...

Llarion said:
I don't think that's what he's saying, he is simply saying that this forum is not in the business of policing it. You do what you do, at your own risk, and this forum disclaims any responsibility. It'd be a different matter entirely if this forum were actually hosting the files. I'd say the party with the most potential culpability is Soundclick... though I imagine they make you say that you licensed it; I don't know, I'm not on there. Reverbnation makes you validate your rights to any tune you upload.

Safest thing: License your covers.
Click to expand...

... the same producer who F----D UP Rick nelsons "Playing To Win Album". If so, I'm glad he's dead! If not, My condolensce!
 
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