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9 votes
2 answers
1k views

Performing music in public

I am a musician. I want to perform music. How do I do this without being sued into oblivion? I am particularly interested in UK law. As I understand it, a specific sound recording (of anything) is ...
MathematicalOrchid's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
339 views

Is licensing required to use an excerpt of a song within a recording?

I'm currently recording a cover version of a song for inclusion on a compilation album which will be sold on Bandcamp. Because Bandcamp does not pay mechanical royalties, the organiser of the ...
Astralbee's user avatar
  • 135
5 votes
3 answers
13k views

Transcribing music and the legality of using musical transcription

I'm learning to play an instrument and I would like to transcribe the songs I heard for later practicing. I have some questions regarding transcribing music and the legality of using musical ...
Teiv's user avatar
  • 161
13 votes
2 answers
6k views

Is it legal to buy second-hand vinyls?

I live in a town that has lots of second-hand stores that sell second-hand vinyl records, tapes, etc, for incredibly low prices. I recently bought the soundtrack from A Clockwork Orange for 1 dollar ...
MicroMachine's user avatar
9 votes
4 answers
621 views

Auto-generating every possible melody to forstall copyright: will this work?

This article describes a scheme to have a computer generate every possible "8-note, 12-beat melody combo" and release it under a Creative Commons license so that anyone can use it (not exactly public ...
Paul Johnson's user avatar
  • 13.7k
3 votes
2 answers
849 views

Are there legal consequences for giving away my own musical transcriptions of copyrighted works on a website?

I've transcribed a lot of video game music in my lifetime, and am interested in making these sheet music transcriptions freely available for download on a website. I see that a lot of other websites ...
HSFlik's user avatar
  • 31
10 votes
3 answers
21k views

Will using a cover of a song in a film free me from legal obligations?

I want to use the song "Whole Lotta Love" in my upcoming film. Obviously the song is copyrighted by led Zeppelin. So I'm planning to get a few musicians and cover the song and then use it as a ...
Black Dagger's user avatar
5 votes
3 answers
457 views

Write song to the tune of a copyrighted song

my wife is considering writing (and selling) some childrens' books which will contain songs which are to the tune of various copyrighted songs (like the "Let It Go!" song from Disney's Frozen). She ...
caleb's user avatar
  • 151
4 votes
2 answers
205 views

Is it allowed to use a copyrighted music track on a video, but without integrating the audio into the video?

It's generally known that if you use a song to create a music video, you must have obtained a master use license to publish the track as a part of the music video, and also a synchronization license ...
Danya02's user avatar
  • 183
2 votes
2 answers
272 views

Is an algorithm producing music copyrighted?

It is my understanding that algorithms (not their concrete implementations) are not copyrighted. Musical scores or productions usually have a copyright. Some music is constructed from a small set of ...
Helena's user avatar
  • 121
2 votes
2 answers
7k views

How are MIDI files of copyrighted music licensed?

Anyone with a music studio can easily download a .midi file from the internet, and then use it to produce a musical track. A midi file exists online for almost every song in the world, and you can ...
Nardooncis Butterfield's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
69 views

How can I determine what elements of a work are covered by a copyright mark?

I have sheet music for a piece of classical music that bears the following copyright claim: © 1927 Carl Fischer, New York. © renewed 1955 Fritz Fischer Fischer is a well-known publisher of ...
feetwet's user avatar
  • 21.9k
2 votes
1 answer
483 views

What is the "area" of copyright claims and fair use of songs?

There are many lyrics videos and other audio visualizer videos using songs they clearly don't have ownership own. Many of these receive a copyright strike on Youtube and are subsequently taken down, ...
q.Then's user avatar
  • 123
2 votes
2 answers
1k views

Copyright of children's folklore songs

Suppose artist A wanted to include a song to the tune of a children's nursery rhyme, such as Pretty Little Dutch Girl. This song was written in the 1940s, so if the composer was Australian, it would ...
emonigma's user avatar
  • 257
2 votes
1 answer
243 views

Why Genius doesn't have problems with lyrics copyright?

I know that lyrics of almost all songs are subject to copyright law (am I right?). But I never heard that Genius (genius.com) where such lyrics are posted without any care had any problems with the ...
reflex0810's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
217 views

Dual Question: Are music transcription services legal? How to legally share/sell music transcriptions?

Is it legal to charge for the service of transcribing music for a customer? For example, if someone requests that I transcribe a copyrighted song for them, is it legal for me to do this and charge a ...
EliHComposer's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
214 views

Is performance of a copyrighted written music copyright infringement?

Suppose If play some piece from sheet music that contains Copyright information such as: Information: Copyright 2006 ABC Music Co. ... Reproduced by permission of DEF Music. All rights Reserved. ...
RE60K's user avatar
  • 113
1 vote
1 answer
155 views

How similar should a tune be to constitute theft of someone else's tune?

i am a composer of hip hop songs. As opposed to rap songs, hip hop songs are very melodic by nature. now sometimes i get inspired by someone else's tune, or write my own tune and then find out ...
Raja making music's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
674 views

Can I use public domain MIDI files commercially? [closed]

Lets say I made professional music with the hope of selling them from public domain MIDI files. The files would have been modified slightly with the notes arranged slightly differently. Would that be ...
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