Well the proverbial stuff is starting to hit the fan.

I'm also a member over on the TDPRI Guitar Forum. Over on that forum, a member posted a video of himself demoing his new amp that he made around a year and a half ago. He played some obscure songs from the 30's. I say obscure because most people around these days haven't heard some of those old songs.

So yesterday he was notified by a lawyer of the family of the song writer that he is being sued for playing the song without permission and without purchasing a license to play in the video and posting it on the internet. He wasn't trying to sell the amp, wasn't using the song to sell a product or make money off of it.

Guess what? He's not the only guy getting these notices. So you better think twice now before posting a video online of yourself playing someone's song or playing someone's song from a recording on your video.

Now I know that a musician needs to make money, but this kind of thing seems crappy to me. What's your thoughts on this? 

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In this case, the musician that wrote the song and performed it has passed on some time ago and his family is trying to make money off of his work.

If the poster was trying to sell something, then he should pay something or get permission. This just smells of greed to me and I wouldn't be surprised if this ignites like a wildfire across the internet with thousands of lawsuits.

The average small businessman or average Joe won't have the money to fight it so they will just pay up.

They're either being scammed or doing a lot of story telling. Not going to happen. Never will. I'm not a lawyer but do know enough about fare use law to say it's not going to happen. There are countless garage bands all over America playing in countless bars. And getting paid for it. There are people playing in parks, on street corners and at parties. All playing everyone else's music. I was at a bar/restaurant last Sat where a band was playing other peoples music. 

I know people in the recording industry. I know people who have toured across America. I know people who weekly play and get paid for it. Not going to happen. 

Here's a vid that might help. It's not about music. But is about what is fare use. 

https://youtu.be/xKBsTUjd910

youtube is a mess right now. There has been so many breaches of copyright infringement, intellectual property theft and so on. Youtube has been forced to go paranoid. Either that or have their backsides fined out of existence. Everything from privet videos to full movies have been uploaded without permission. People who have done everything right are being dragged down this swirling hole of fear. Huge channels with thousands of subs disappear. Look up "WTFU' or where's the fare use on Youtube to learn more.  

So is the first Amendment. It covers free speech. Singing is speech. In every court case the law has always favored the performer. Including cases that have gone all the way to the supreme court. You can step over the line if your selling your performance. Or using the song in a way that is detrimental to the original author. However parody is covered under free speech. So if you don't like someone making fun of you with your own music, to bad. : )

this is a case of people not knowing their rights and getting taken advantage of. A real case against you would tell you to cease and desist first. Then threaten legal action. This is a SCAM.

"spotter to gunner: Target hit! Dead Center! - over"

Most of your major churches across the country are having to pay to use songs in their Praise and Worship services.

Major bars and venues are also having to pay.

The writing is on the wall. When the lawyers start twisting the Constitution and Bill of Rights to their favor, we all suffer. At this point your videos are safe, but for how long? Remember all those sites were you could download a copy of a song for your own personal use? Can't do that anymore. Remember when you could copy a CD or DVD for your own personal use? Can't do that anymore if it's copyrighted like the songs you play in your videos are. If you have a DVR from a major cable/satellite co. you can't make a recording of what you saw, only a dvr recording that will be erased after a while. 

It's coming soon. It may take awhile to get to you, but it will eventually. Sad part is, the artist will only get pennies on the dollar. the most of it will go to the lawyers, producers that hired the lawyers and the recording companies. 

Advertisers have to pay for a songs use in their advertisments, Politicians often end up paying at some time if the artist likes them enough and allows them to use the song.

The songs we enjoy playing are copyrighted, so our rights don't apply.

So if you want to enjoy the songs you've heard in the past, now you get to pay someone for it even if you bought a copy.Can't legally make your own copy of the CD/DVD you bought anymore. God forbid these guys start making us pay every time we listen to a song or watch the movie we bought.

i know the music industry has copyrighted songs from performers who have played on their 'Praise and Worship" CD.s  But these are songs by these artists. I'm not sure if anyone could legally copyrights songs out of a traditional hymnal. They can copyright the recordings but not the songs themselves. I'm familiar with the way this has been handled in churches. But no clue as to why this is happening. It's clearly a violation of every court order that's happened. 

I've not heard of any major or minor venue having to pay for live music played within it's walls. I do know that stores that broadcast music have to. But haven't heard of any live music being treaded this way. The law for copyrighted music states that a recording is for privet listening. Any public broadcast falls under the same laws as a radio station.  So it's presumable if 'WKRP in Cincinnati" has to pay then Walmats would have to as well. But not for live music.  That still falls under the first amendment. 

I"m going to have to do some asking around. I have a friend who runs sound at big venues here in St Louis. I'll also be going to a venue next weekend and know the owner. 

After asking around I can honestly say this is BS. Never has happened. Never will. Sorry guy. I think your friend is being scammed. 

Kind a funny. In part of one discussion thIs question was raised. "If Bob Seger played a Neil Young song on stage would it be the same if I did?" We all started laughing because none of us had the answer. Basically it boiled down to, If the song made it on to a live recording meant for resale then he would have to pay royalties for that song. If not then it would be the same if you played a Neil Young song on stage. Years ago Hank Williams Jr. came threw St. Louis. I had some friends who went to that concert. They said he was drunk, obnoxious and started playing a bunch of Ted Nugent songs. 

There are a lot of gray areas in fare use laws. Even the Supreme Court can't, or has never in the past, given precise wording. More or less they mumble something about the right to free speech and leave it at that.They have ALWAYS given the win to the defendant. AS long as your not claiming rights or selling recordings of someone else's work, rock on dudes. If you doubt this then go talk to a lawyer. Your peace of mind is worth a few bucks. 

Copyright protection may be 50 to 70 years after the death of the last surviving author, 95 years from publication date, or other copyright protection term. After that it becomes public domain.

Public domain means anyone can publish a song for profit. So you can make your own version of 'The Star Spangled Banner'. Put it on your album without anyone saying anything about it. 

Copy rights have nothing to do with this. Copyright laws have been in the books  long before you were born. People were playing other people's music long before you were born. People were getting paid to play other people's music long before you were born. If there was a problem with this it would have been taken care of. Long before you were born. The laws protecting the original owner have not changed. Only the length of the protection.

If you don't believe this, talk to a lawyer. if your that concerned about it. Talk to a lawyer. If you want to research this yourself go to USA.gov and type in fair use law. Learn from the source . Not from hearsay or what people think is the truth. 

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