Legality

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SGPIANOMAN

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A question that i have been wonering for sometimes, what is legal/illegal in music or maybe i should be more specific..such as music recording. *example* Say me and a group of friends covered a song, recorded it at home using a soundtrack, and burned a copy of ourselves singing it...now that would be legal correct? take it further...now what if someone heard the cd and wanted a copy..we GAVE it to them...still legal? one more step, we sang somewhere and someone then heard a copy of our "cd"..we sold a copy at say...5 bucks...still legal?

none of this stuff has been done, its just something i've been thinking about. I had some people tell me all this mumbo jumbo of whta's legal and whats not..so any clarification and additions would be appreciated.
 
OK, you say a "soundtrack"....by this I assume you are using someone else's music to sing to.
This is fine for you and your friends for the sake of having a good time. Although it should not be distributed.
As soon as you make a dime on it is where the real problems start.
Anything past using it for your own personal entertainment, should be worked out by official agreement with the owner of the soundtrack.


bd
 
You're not going to like this...

SGPIANOMAN said:
... Say me and a group of friends covered a song, recorded it at home using a soundtrack, and burned a copy of ourselves singing it...now that would be legal correct? take it further...now what if someone heard the cd and wanted a copy..we GAVE it to them...still legal? one more step, we sang somewhere and someone then heard a copy of our "cd"..we sold a copy at say...5 bucks...still legal?
...
Click to expand...
You first (hypothetically) broke the law when you "covered" the tune without first getting a performance license (usually from ASCAP, SESAC, etc., but could be direct from the copyright owner.). Then, you recorded and distributed (price is irrelevant) your cover without a mechanical license. Under the circumstances, your likelihood of getting caught is small; but that's not what you asked about.

(This information is valid in the U.S.A. If you're in a different country, your laws may be significantly different.)

DonF
 
thank ya'll...ha i had never done any of that, i was just thinking of it...but that is very interesting

but now what if i made "original" soundtracks to the songs covered...i'd still be in violation..correct
 
ASCAP, BMI and SESAC do not issue perfromance licensing to individuals or groups . . . nor are they concerned with recording of any kind. They license venues for the public performance of music.

You are probably thinking about a "Mechanical License," which is the permission given by the songs publisher to record a copyrighted song.

You are right in that the Copyright laws (at least in the USA) make (in most cases) little or no distinction between free distribution and distribution for sale.

To the original question -- If you are just making a couple of CDs of you singing to a background track and passing it out to your friends, this would be covered by "Fair Use," and you haven't done anything wrong. If you make 200 copies for 200 of your friends, you are probably in violation

DCM
 
DCMaguire said:
ASCAP, BMI and SESAC do not issue perfromance licensing to individuals or groups . . . nor are they concerned with recording of any kind. They license venues for the public performance of music.

You are probably thinking about a "Mechanical License," which is the permission given by the songs publisher to record a copyrighted song.
Click to expand...
Yes, I know what the mechanical license is for. I took the original post to mean that they had (1) covered and (2) recorded the song, "covered" meaning performed in public. Regarding who is responsible for the performance license, you are correct according to ASCAP's FAQ. Sorry.
... If you are just making a couple of CDs of you singing to a background track and passing it out to your friends, this would be covered by "Fair Use," ...
Click to expand...
NO NO NO!!! Fair Use is extremely limited, and mostly covers educational uses of copyrighted material. It would be better to say that it's covered by the "you probably won't get caught" doctrine. :D

DonF
 
I think when it comes right down to it, if you want to follow the law to the letter, we could probably get busted for singing someone's copyrighted material in the shower. LOL.

If you're just goofing around and singing tunes to someone's soundtrack and recording it. If it's just for personal entertainment and not distributed...especially for financial gain...the owner of the copyright does not suffer a loss from such activity. The owner of the copyright would have to be pretty stupid to even think about taking a case like that to court.

Distribution would be the thing which really needs to be addressed. How many copies can be made of this recording and given to how many friends? I would say very few. The more copies that are made increases the likelyhood that the owner of the copyright could bring a case that he/she sustained a loss.

bd
 
hahhaha..i was looking at that ascap faq...that was funny...gosh you need a liscense to hum songs apparently
 
"Fair Use" also covers stuff like making a tape copy of a CD you bought, or taping your band's performance and making a few copies, which would be analagous to burning a couple of copies of you and your friends singing karaoke.
 
Try telling that to the judge.

:rolleyes:
DCMaguire said:
"Fair Use" also covers stuff like ...
Click to expand...
I'm going to let this drop, because I hate to continue harping on one string.... It gets boring after a while. If you're interested, you can check out this, this, and this.

Now I'll shut up.

DonF
 
thanks for all the info....it is very interesting to know actually where the bounds are/are not. But still, keep on recordin
 
I understood that if your band recorded covers of other people's songs on a CD, say to give to club owners, DJs, etc then you were OK, provided you marked the CD along the lines of 'For Demonstration purposes Only, Not For Sale or Distribution' and clearly acknowledged the copyright owners and authors (write it on the CD).

That may only apply in the UK where I am ?
 
Glyn,

I know precious little about US copyright law, and absolutely nothing about that of the UK! But I'm pretty sure the "For Demonstration Purposes" legend wouldn't fly very far in the courts over here.

DonF
 
Seems the safest way is just to write your own stuff and have done with it. If you want to cover a song, just write one that sounds like it with a similar feel and hope no-one notices! Unless you make a lot of money with it no-one is going to bother suing you anyway.
 
If you DO make a lot of money with it, DON'T SPEND IT! You're probably gonna need every penny of it.......and then some.


bd
 
Doesn't matter. You would gain media exposure and get your name known. I've come to the conclusion that exposure is EVERYTHING in this business. Exposure leads to contacts, which lead on to the other desireable things like support slots to big artists, etc.

So if you get sued it means you've had a hit - that's GOOD! Even if you don't make a penny out of it you have a 'name' and can build on that.

There's no point in having a shed load of totaly original songs that noone ever hears!
 
You are fine until you sell it for profit or 'broadcast' it for profit. ASCAP and BMI would play absolutely no roll in this- they are concerned with performing rights not copyright infringement, which is what this would be. The owner of the club where you play your music would be responsible to get a license from ASCAP or BMI. You would need a copyright permission from the owner of both the musical composition (the sheet music) and the actual sound recording that you used. The latter is called a master recording, except that most people won't let use the master rec if you change it in anyway (lyrically or the structure-taking out the vocals and replacing them). It would be much easier to record the song yourself- then you only need one license. BUT why would you want to record over someone elses music. Sounds a bit ridiculous!
 
wtf?

Got lost in the venue licensing issue

scenario:
open mic
performance:
hotel california, by the eagles
compensation:
an unforgiving audience
liability:
none
Am I correct?

scenario:
my studio
performance:
hotel california, by the eagles
compensation:
personal shame and reference for rehersal purposes
liability:
zilch
I know I am right here...cuz nobody would hear it but me and my band members.

Distribution, bad...sales, really bad...half assed overlapping with different lyrics...tasteless.
 
From the website of the US Copyright Office:

§ 106. Exclusive rights in copyrighted works

Subject to sections 107 through 121, the owner of copyright under this title has the exclusive rights to do and to authorize any of the following:

(1) to reproduce the copyrighted work in copies or phonorecords;

...

(4) in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion pictures and other audiovisual works, to perform the copyrighted work publicly;

...
 
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