Question about copyrighted songs

[Diznygrl]

Aye yi yi, sometimes this copyright stuff gets way out of hand. I suppose next restaurants are going to have to pay for permission to sing Happy Birthday to their customers, since that song is copyrighted. Or maybe they already do??

 

[Imzadi]

You would be surprised. I know of an elementary school that got in trouble for showing a Disney movie when they did not have a Disney license. A mom was pissy that they were showing movies in school and turned them in.

I heard that some people make a living off of turning people in. They are hired and get money for each time they report someone. So, it's in their own best interests to report everyone they can find. That's how these companies are able to have watchdogs in each region.

 

[lizabu]

Aye yi yi, sometimes this copyright stuff gets way out of hand. I suppose next restaurants are going to have to pay for permission to sing Happy Birthday to their customers, since that song is copyrighted. Or maybe they already do??

I think happy birthday may be public domain. Many nursery rhymes and songs that are so old no one can claim to be the creator are public domain.

 

[Imzadi]

I think happy birthday may be public domain. Many nursery rhymes and songs that are so old no one can claim to be the creator are public domain.

No, it's not. There's someone that owns the tune and DEMANDS to be paid every time it's played on TV. That's why, even on talk shows, when it's someone's birthday, they don't play the song for the person. They used to make a big stink about it on the Tonight Show because they didn't want to end up paying the royalties for someone even singing the first line. "DON'T sing the song!"

 

[lizabu]

Interesting

 

[chartle]

Aye yi yi, sometimes this copyright stuff gets way out of hand. I suppose next restaurants are going to have to pay for permission to sing Happy Birthday to their customers, since that song is copyrighted. Or maybe they already do??

Yep that's why they come up some other little time.

 

[goofy4tink]

As soon as you buy a piece of sheet music, you can sing it, play it, perform it. Now...if you're skating or cheering, or just doing a dance routine to recorded music, it's a different thing. I think, and I'm not 100% sure, that if it's the original singer/band performing it, it's okay. But not if someone else performs it.
I know our choir director sometimes makes copies of music for us...we all joke that we're going to copyright jail.

I heard so many people complain about the Sound of Music not being what it should be...but oddly enough, it was almost exactly the same as our community theatre production!!! Movies and musicals/plays are seldom exactly the same. Back many years ago, we did 'Grease'. When we got into rehearsals, the teenage girl who was playing Sandy couldn't understand why her part wasn't bigger and why she wasn't singing more.....the musical isn't like the movie!!! Man, she was peeved!!!

We have had shows where we've been forced to make a change or two to a script...just sat there, fingers crossed, at each performance, hoping that no one from Tams, MTI or Samuel French was going to show up!!!! Phew.

 

[mnrose]

My DD's high school just did Shrek the Musical and what they had to pay for the "rights" to that particular show was astoundingly expensive!!!! They usually do a "newer" show every 3-4 years, and "older" shows the other years for precisely this reason. Older shows are considerably cheaper to purchase the rights.

They were allowed (for time reasons) to delete a couple of numbers, but they could not add any other music.

 

[spinandmarty]

I work in a grade school, most of the plays they put on are copyrighted... You can not order one copy of the script and make copys, if there or twenty rolls in the play you need to get at least twenty copys, some also have another fees...

 

[LBIJim]

As soon as you buy a piece of sheet music, you can sing it, play it, perform it. Now...if you're skating or cheering, or just doing a dance routine to recorded music, it's a different thing. I think, and I'm not 100% sure, that if it's the original singer/band performing it, it's okay. But not if someone else performs it.
I know our choir director sometimes makes copies of music for us...we all joke that we're going to copyright jail.

A friend wrote about a dozen liturgical songs and then discovered some churches were using them without buying the sheet music. He had his lawyer send cease and desist orders. Some churches were just printing out their own copies of the music and lyrics instead of purchasing them from an approved source.

 

[Shutterbug]

I have done time lapse lego building videos where I have added a soundtrack. Most of the time when I load it up to youtube it stays with the usual "buy this music on iTunes or Amazon" tag.
Though there have been times that it wasn't allowed to be public because of the particular song.
One time I loaded a video up that I had made on IMovie using background music that is actually part of iMovie. Youtube tried to tell me it was copyrighted and I couldn't make it public. Heres the thing ALL of the music that comes with iMovie is royalty free. Apple even states that. So I had to send a copy of that to youtube and they eventually removed the block.
Now, unless I know of a particular song that would go really well with a video, I now look for royalty free music to buy on iTunes or other places on the internet.

 

[spinandmarty]

I don't know if it's still this way but if you went to Chuckee Cheeses, they were not allowed to play Happy Birthday...

 

[goofy4tink]

A friend wrote about a dozen liturgical songs and then discovered some churches were using them without buying the sheet music. He had his lawyer send cease and desist orders. Some churches were just printing out their own copies of the music and lyrics instead of purchasing them from an approved source.

Absolutely. Our issue is that our group size changes, so we sometimes have more people than music. So copies are made. Sheet music had been purchased....just needed to augment.

 

[Geoff_M]

Okay let's make it easier, what about the kid who performs a Madonna song at the summer camp talent show? What about the restaurant pianist? Or the kazillion covers on YouTube for that matter? None of these are paying for their use of the song. Where exactly is the legality line drawn?

Legally, they are required to. Whether or not they opt to "go rogue" or do what is legally required, is their call. But many places DO in fact opt to cover themselves legally by purchasing a blanket license from a copyright organization such as ASCAP. If you follow this ASCAP link, you'll see plenty of options listed for the types of scenarios you suggest. If you look at the door or window of many restaurants where they put decals you may see one this one of these:

Even if you just play a local radio station in your restaurant, you still need an ASCAP, or similar, license.

No, it's not. There's someone that owns the tune and DEMANDS to be paid every time it's played on TV. That's why, even on talk shows, when it's someone's birthday, they don't play the song for the person.

I don't know if you've heard, but there's a major lawsuit that's been dragging on for a few years that trying to invalidate the copyright claims of "Happy Birthday".

As for the Super Bowl, it's protected by Section 110 of the US Copyright Law that places limitations on the manner that establishments may feature broadcasts from public transmissions of TV signals. It contains some rather specific limits:

(B) communication by an establishment of a transmission or retransmission embodying a performance or display of a nondramatic musical work intended to be received by the general public, originated by a radio or television broadcast station licensed as such by the Federal Communications Commission, or, if an audiovisual transmission, by a cable system or satellite carrier, if—

(i) in the case of an establishment other than a food service or drinking establishment, either the establishment in which the communication occurs has less than 2,000 gross square feet of space (excluding space used for customer parking and for no other purpose), or the establishment in which the communication occurs has 2,000 or more gross square feet of space (excluding space used for customer parking and for no other purpose) and—

(I) if the performance is by audio means only, the performance is communicated by means of a total of not more than 6 loudspeakers, of which not more than 4 loudspeakers are located in any 1 room or adjoining outdoor space; or

(II) if the performance or display is by audiovisual means, any visual portion of the performance or display is communicated by means of a total of not more than 4 audiovisual devices, of which not more than 1 audiovisual device is located in any 1 room, and no such audiovisual device has a diagonal screen size greater than 55 inches, and any audio portion of the performance or display is communicated by means of a total of not more than 6 loudspeakers, of which not more than 4 loudspeakers are located in any 1 room or adjoining outdoor space;

 

[scrapquitler]

Aye yi yi, sometimes this copyright stuff gets way out of hand. I suppose next restaurants are going to have to pay for permission to sing Happy Birthday to their customers, since that song is copyrighted. Or maybe they already do??

Actually most of the restaurants I go to sing something that is NOT happy birthday for this exact reason.

 

[lorijohnhill]

I work for a church. We have subscriptions to several licensing companies to have certain songs played/performed during a service. There is separate licensing for rehearsing the music, with limits on how many copies can be made. There is another license for showing video during a service. Yet another if you want to stream the service.

There are different levels of the licenses also. For instance, one of our subscriptions allows us to download the lyrics or print the vocal sheet (just showing the vocal music). We do not have access to the accompaniest sheet music.

It's not always easy to figure out who holds all the copyrights to a certain piece either. If you want to use a recorded piece, you need permission from the copyright holder of the sheet music, the lyrics, and all of the performers. Sometimes this is covered by one blanket company, but not always.

Also be aware that saying "No copyright infringement intended." (often seen on YouTube) does not absolve you from having to obtain permission to use the piece.

 

[Geoff_M]

I work for a church. We have subscriptions to several licensing companies to have certain songs played/performed during a service.

Actually, you do not need a license for music performed as part of a religious worship service. Such use is specifically exempted from copyright law. However, the scope of that exemption is limited to the service itself and does not cover things like copying sheet music, reproducing lyrics, broadcasting a service, using music in a Sunday school class or VBS, or recording the service for distribution to those outside of the service.