Covers & Demos
I have a question -- I am trying to do Johnny Cash Covers as a one man show. Is it legal for me to post a few covers on my web pages, or is this a violation of copyright?
Views: 4
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Andy Meehan on -
Not a clue. I'd like to know the answer to this as well. I don't know the legality of covers at all.
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Permalink Reply by Richie Reinholdt on -
Strictly speaking, it is a violation unless you go to Harry Fox ( http://www.harryfox.com/index.jsp ) and pay for a License but usually you are under the radar unless you get lot's of airplay or enter the songs in a competition...R.R.
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Permalink Reply by Capt Bob A. Lou on -
It would be a pain if they caught you though ($750-$30K per infringed song, plus the legal costs).
The cost per stream (which is how they would assess royalties) is not that much, but there is a cost. I believe you can go through ASCAP or BMI as well. I'm not a fan of this, but it's the law, and it's kept me from posting more demo music online.
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Permalink Reply by Rick Philipp on -
First off, the odds of anyone taking issue with the posting of your version of a cover tune on your website are slim, very slim! That being said…if you want to play by the rules and let’s face it, songwriters are what make music more than just a bunch of notes, you can obtain a digital performance license through “Limelight” http://www.songclearance.com/ and a mechanical license through “songfile” http://www.harryfox.com/public/songfile.jsp These company’s provide a simple cost effective shortcut around the more involved route of contacting the performance rights organizations” BMI, ASCAP, SESAC. You can also contact the publisher directly and request limited use permission.
I hope this helps shed some light on the issue.
Rick
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Permalink Reply by Capt Bob A. Lou on
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Hey Rick-
These are two great links and a great response. I looked all over for an easy way to register and didn't find these. What a time saver!
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Permalink Reply by Gloria Kandle on -
I usually try to go right to the source and ask the people, or original authors, also a web link is LImeLight ....
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Permalink Reply by Tom Balek on -
The earlier posts are all correct as far as I know. I have also heard, but don't know for sure -- that as long as you are not selling any of these covered songs, you have no commercial interest, so can probably skate legal problems on that basis. Safest thing is don't do it, but like others have said there is a TON of covered material all over the web, including youtube. They can't sue a million artists, and if they don't sue everybody, then a court might decide it is acceptable for one more artist to skate.
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