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Maybe they're only pulling either indie stuff with no copyright, or the rarer stuff that they're less likely to get in trouble over.
by sk0g 9y ago
Maybe they're only pulling either indie stuff with no copyright, or the rarer stuff that they're less likely to get in trouble over.
- icebraining 9y agoindie stuff with no copyright There's no such thing, copyright is automatic, it applies as soon as the author puts the work in some tangible medium (like an hard drive).
- Bromskloss 9y agoI've never thought about the medium thing. If you write a song (and perhaps perform it in public and everything), but never commit it into writing or recording, does copyright not apply?
- DanBC 9y agoWhat would the copyrights apply to if there's no recording?
- icebraining 9y agoLive concerts played from memory? E.g. Eubie Blake supposedly only wrote Charleston Rag down 16 years after composing it.
- Bromskloss 9y agoSomeone else could write it down and publish it without the author's permission.
- pjc50 9y agoIf you wrote it on paper, whether musical notation or just the lyrics, that would give you songwriter copyright. If you then gave a performance and someone recorded it, the copyright in the recording would lie with them - but they would not be able to distribute it without also having your permission. (People forget that these are different and the songwriter royalties are quite lucrative - famously e.g. the Beatles almost all the songs are joint copyright Lennon/McCartney, not the band as a whole)
- sk0g 9y agoHuh, didn't know that! So if I record and master a random riff, I technically have a copyright on it? To be fair, I was mostly talking about ones with a record label, where you might be hounded by a label with a lot of legal representation.
- empath75 9y agoIf you publish it. If you just sit on it, you don't. (At least not in the sense that you can get away with suing someone that publishes the same rift later)
- sk0g 9y agoWhat would publish imply? Would putting it on a private Google Drive work? What about a Drive that's searchable and anyone can have a listen, if they so desired?
- marksomnian 9y agoI'd guess that standard would be set by a court case, unless there already has been one like this (in which case please enlighten me). In general, with vagueness like this, a court usually has the final say.
- icebraining 9y agoIANAL, but unlike patents, copyright violation only occurs if you actually copy the work - independent creations are not infringing, even if similar. While the standard for showing that the work was actually copied is usually not high, especially since these are usually civil suits, some link in a random Google Drive might not be enough.
- PeterisP 9y agoYes, sure, if you record a riff or write a few sentences on paper, then you own the copyright to that - there is no "magic importance limit" that needs to be surpassed for works to become copyrightable. Shitty drawings made by five year olds get the same legal treatment as Picasso, etc, etc.