[linux-audio-user] Legalities

[david]

Brad Fuller wrote:
> david wrote:
>> Bob van der Poel wrote:
>>>
>>> Anyone know much about the legalities of posting music recorded by 
>>> oneself, but written by someone else? I put up a few recordings on my 
>>> web site, mostly as a demo of MMA ... but I got to wondering the 
>>> other day if some nice lawyer is going to be knocking on my door? I'm 
>>> not too worried since I do live in Canada, and the server is 
>>> <somewhere in Europe>. But, still ... one has to wonder.
>>>
>>> In my case, I didn't write the music. But, I'm the "artist" (and 
>>> recording engineer, etc.). And, I'm not selling anything. And, they 
>>> are just demos.
>>>
>>> So, should I worry? Should I take them down?
>>
>> Assuming the original composition was NOT released under some kind of 
>> "free" license by the composer - you should get permission to 
>> perform/record the composition. You MIGHT be liable for royalties.
> 
> If they want, they can take you to court for infringement

Yup.

>> My church pays royalties each year or quarter, I forget which, for the 
>> songs we use in services.
> 
> Your church is paying royalties to a licensing company such as ASCAP/BMI 
> for those performances.

CCLI - the biggie in the Contemporary Christian music biz, I guess.

> I think Bob's question has to do with several rights: the mechanical 
> rights since he recorded the song, the performance rights since he 
> performed on it, and I think there might be a duplication right for the 
> composition if it was done someplace else. But, beyond the rights, it 
> just sounds like Bob recorded someone's copyrighted song. And, maybe he 
> arranged it in a different way (and other question.) In general, if you 
> are offering copyrighted music to download from your site you'll need a 
> license to do so from the copyright holder(s).

I think a good suggestion would be to contact an attorney that handles 
these kinds of issues.

-- 
David
gnome at hawaii.rr.com
authenticity, honesty, community