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2 votes
1 answer
130 views

Would it be legal to credit an original song to “traditional”?

Suppose I write a song which, as far as I know, is original and not derived from any other work. I record it and credit the composition to “traditional” rather than myself. Assume I never claim ...
Paul Richter's user avatar
-4 votes
2 answers
155 views

Is looking up the lyrics for a song illegal?

I was dumbstruck when I found out today that apparently posting the lyrics to a song is copyright infringement. I literally asked ChatGPT for the lyrics to "Around the World" by Daft Punk, ...
chausies's user avatar
  • 4,171
0 votes
2 answers
147 views

Legality of AI vocals from royalty-free music

I'm a fairly new music producer, and one of the inherent problems with it is that it means you have to do all the work yourself: sound design, any vocals, mixing, and mastering. There's quite a few ...
Christian Smith's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
109 views

student music arrangements

Can a student create an arrangement or medley of music compositions for an assignment(not shared publicly) without needing permission from the composer? If the student gives credit to the original ...
Shirley Johnston's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
211 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
0 votes
0 answers
96 views

How do people get away with old TV clips in music?

For example, old news coverage from decades ago (landing on the moon, things like that). Presumably there are copyright laws but such clips may be in songs, including clips of well known anchors ...
Ken - Enough about Monica's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
235 views

Is it illegal to perform a song from sheet music that I transcribed?

So I have been transcribing a copyrighted song (as a HOBBY) that I love and was thinking about using it as a graduation song for my music school, but I’ve had to make some tweaks because there are ...
Cora 's user avatar
  • 31
6 votes
1 answer
394 views

Is it legal to arrange music I don't have rights to if it is never performed?

I had the idea to transcribe and arrange the music from the musical Ride the Cyclone for a wind ensemble for my school. I got in contact with the company that owns the license (Broadway Licensing) to ...
violetorigin's user avatar
-1 votes
3 answers
167 views

Copyrighted Music, Personal Use, and not-for-profit Video Games?

I am creating a video game that is open-source and will be distributed for free (i.e. not-for-profit) on itch.io. I would like to use a copyrighted song as part of the background music. My question is,...
Inferno's user avatar
  • 17
6 votes
1 answer
2k views

Can a song be used in a presentation for work?

Does it fall under that Fair Use Act of 1976 to include a song as the intro to a presentation for work if the presentation is being given for educational/teaching purposes?
Wesley Musgrove's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
150 views

Who owns the copyright in this case?

As a layman interested in the law, I'm facing a bit of a conundrum posed by my cousin. Here are the facts: A records company, M Ltd, has created (e.g. written code for, trained etc.) an AI that can ...
BakedAlaska624's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
67 views

Musical video production [closed]

I paid a video man to film a lady dancer and myself in a hotel dancing to my new music to be released. I wrote the lyrics, composed, recorded and sang it myself. He signed a contract with the hotel ...
Catch 22's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
132 views

Is an "anti-copyright" notice legally significant?

I found a picture of a record sleeve for an album independently released in New Zealand, and on the back it says "Anti-copyright (band name) 1986". There is a wikipedia page for "anti-...
MKU's user avatar
  • 33
27 votes
3 answers
10k views

What is the legal distinction between watching a YouTube video in a browser and downloading it for personal use? [duplicate]

If the act of watching a YouTube video creates a temporary download in my internet cache, why is it illegal to use an app that intercepts the YouTube API to download music videos to listen to later ...
MelodySkirata's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
406 views

Is it illegal to play copyrighted music on the piano on the street and receive passers-by's donation? [duplicate]

In America, if I play a piano arrangement, that is, not the original work, of copyrighted music on a street on the piano and receive the donation from passers-by, is this illegal? And if I do not ...
Michael's user avatar
  • 201
0 votes
2 answers
306 views

legality behind the copyright of adagio in g minor

sources claim it is still under copyright yet Artists continue to simply borrow from it or copy the piece. Does this mean that the fragment stolen by giazotto is copyright free? is it safe to cover ...
anon0's user avatar
  • 19
0 votes
1 answer
48 views

Liability when using content from third party content distributor

There are sites that offer images and music that is supposedly usable without paying any royalities (for youtube videos, placeholder images, and so on). The content is uploaded by third party (from my ...
Yanick Salzmann's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
87 views

Is sharing sites where copyrighted songs can be downloaded freely illegal?

If Alan knows of some sites where copyrighted songs can be downloaded freely, and he sends the links to Betty, is this criminal?
Michael's user avatar
  • 201
0 votes
1 answer
53 views

Is sharing anime songs downloaded from youtube with my family across countries illegal?

Say, I live in America, my family are in Turkey. If I download anime songs like this from youtube, then I send them to my family, is this illegal? If it is, and someone sue me, what would be the ...
Michael's user avatar
  • 201
2 votes
1 answer
98 views

Creative commons license on sheet music of classical pieces and performing in public

Suppose that there is a piece of classical music (let's say written by Bach in 1726) and there is a recent arrangement (sheet music) of that piece which was made available through Creative Commons ...
hola's user avatar
  • 23
1 vote
1 answer
78 views

Take part of a song slow it down a bit and put it on a loop

Lets say someone hypothetically took the beginning part of a song and slowed it down a bit and put it on a loop for 3 min.. In this scenario the original song was copyrighted. Would this be copyright ...
user55665484375's user avatar
4 votes
3 answers
2k views

Why is a cover song not fair use? (But parody songs are?)

Considering fair use law, parody, transformative works: Weird Al always asks for permission for his parodies but many law professionals have stated he would not have to. Considering all this, why does ...
Opcode's user avatar
  • 141
1 vote
1 answer
133 views

What's the difference in copyrights between a book and lyrics of a song?

As far as I understand copyrights, both books and lyrics of a song are protected in the same way. Are they really? It's much easier to find whole lyrics of a song than it is to find whole text of a ...
musialmi's user avatar
  • 123
6 votes
2 answers
2k views

May I add additional lyrics to a copyright song without claiming any ownership?

A copyright holder has flatly refused my request to add additional lyrics to one of their songs, for use in a private congregational church setting. Does this mean it is simply illegal? I have seen ...
Mr. Boy's user avatar
  • 309
10 votes
2 answers
3k views

Legality of busking a song with copyrighted melody but using different lyrics to deliver a message

Are there any legal impediments to busking a song with melody and lyrics copyrighted in the United States---with the same melody but with different lyrics---on U.S. streets? Does it matter if the song ...
DDS's user avatar
  • 1,273
3 votes
2 answers
1k views

Copyright transcription of public domain music?

Can I copyright my transcription of, say, a public domain Mozart symphony for brass quintet? I downloaded a public domain PDF of a Mozart symphony. I used the musical content from the PDF and created ...
Mavarique's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
77 views

Where can I buy a license to use digital copyrighted music for piano lessons

I am a piano teacher and wish to display copyrighted music on a tablet for the kids to play music from. I will arrange simplified music for them. What sort of license do I need? Where can I buy this? ...
Russell Ambrose's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
2k views

Does buying a song on Gumroad allow me to use it in my video commercially?

If I purchase music from the link in a_hisa's music video description, can I use the music in my video? Description: a_hisa - Happiness Bell from 8th album「colors 6」 buy on Gumroad https://gumroad....
Seal's user avatar
  • 159
-3 votes
1 answer
166 views

Is it copyright infringement if I don’t actually make any money from someone else’s audio? [duplicate]

Say I use audio snippets from copyrighted speeches (TED talks, news segments, etc.) on top of some original music. If I use this in a public performance that is completely free and generates no profit/...
Whostrynahelpme's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
2k views

Is the Scarborough Fair Melody Really in the Public Domain?

According to Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scarborough-Fair-Melody.png the melody to the tune Scarborough Fair (which had been popularized in the 1960s by Simon and ...
DDS's user avatar
  • 1,273

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