Questions for the copyright Guru's

[thecoalman]

You can't use a copyrighted song in a wedding video, makes sense but what about the audio in the background. If a dee-jay is playing copyrighted music you are recording it. Is that considered incidental? If it's loud enough and you wee close enough to the speaker you could get quite a good copy.

How about if it's a live band? I know that no live wedding band is going to complain about being recorded but technically are you supposed to get them to sign a release so they can't claim anything against you?

If you record a cover band live can you make the cover songs available for free? Here's a real example: Let's say I record my friends playing a tune (not theirs) and the audio sucks. I upload it to the web and post a link here to get some advice on how to fix it. It was only a snippet but is that illegal.

What if I wanted to make a full song available for download? Are covered songs that are copyrighted illegal to distribute even if you do so for free? This kind of brings me back to the audio recorded during a wedding reception as the wedding band would be doing all cover tunes too.

Lot of grey areas here?

[Rookie64]

If you record a cover band live can you make the cover songs available for free? Here's a real example: Let's say I record my friends playing a tune (not theirs) and the audio sucks. I upload it to the web and post a link here to get some advice on how to fix it. It was only a snippet but is that illegal.

A snippet would be considered Fair Use, since you're using it in the context of discussion and as an example related to the problem you're seeking help with.

That's not saying the copyright holder would be OK with it, but under Fair Use, you have a defense...should it later turn into a legal issue.
In most cases, the copyright holder would simply just ask for you to remove the file or access to it.
No big deal.

What if I wanted to make a full song available for download? Are covered songs that are copyrighted illegal to distribute even if you do so for free?

Yes...that would be a copyright infringment.
Even if it is covered by another artist, you don't have the legal right to distribute the song and cover band does not have the right to record commercially or distribute the song either...unless they have permission from the copyright holder.

This kind of brings me back to the audio recorded during a wedding reception as the wedding band would be doing all cover tunes too.

Lot of grey areas here?

Yes, but I think it's OK if it's just for your own home/private use.

When you start distributing, selling or using commercially, then it can be a legal issue.

Adam will know more about that.

[thecoalman]

Thanks for your reponses I assumed that was the case for the first couple of questions but....

This kind of brings me back to the audio recorded during a wedding reception as the wedding band would be doing all cover tunes too.

Lot of grey areas here?

Yes, but I think it's OK if it's just for your own home/private use.

When you start distributing, selling or using commercially, then it can be a legal issue.

Well that's my point, if I charge Joe Sucker & Mary for a wedding video it would be a commercial venture. It's not for my own home use but for Joe Sucker & Mary. What would be the difference between audio recorded from a Dee-Jay or Band than that directly imported into the video from a CD other than quality. It's still a recording of copyrighted music that I would be selling albeit a recording that isn't focused on the music itself.

[VideoTechMan]

This is why copyright sucks..it prevents you from being creative with your work without being blasted to pieces by the copyright holders. Unless you know how to compose or make your own music, you're always at mercy with other folks when it comes to someone else's work.

VTM

[ViRaL1]

Maybe you could try stripping out the band's audio. No guarantee it will work, but it might. As long as you're not focused on them and recording just them, I'd guess that it would just be considered background noise. There has to be some limit to what constitutes this type of infringement. If not, I think I'll go out and make a demo and buy a police scanner. Then I can report to crime scenes and blast it while they're recording. What a cool way to make my fortune. :P

[housepig]

Well that's my point, if I charge Joe Sucker & Mary for a wedding video it would be a commercial venture. It's not for my own home use but for Joe Sucker & Mary. What would be the difference between audio recorded from a Dee-Jay or Band than that directly imported into the video from a CD other than quality. It's still a recording of copyrighted music that I would be selling albeit a recording that isn't focused on the music itself.

the difference is this - let's say I record a skateboarder at a skate park, and someone has a boombox on the upper deck, and some of the music ends up in the background of the video - that would fall more under fair-use because I'm not trying to record the song, or synchronize the song to the action, it's incidental to the action I'm recording.

But if I overdub the song into the soundtrack, I am now making the music not incidental - it's placed there on purpose, in a specific manner = synchronized. So I'd need a Synch license from the rights-holder of that music to add the music in.

as for covers, if the cover band has paid the royalty to the original author for the use of the song, then the recording of them playing the song can be used in any way they see fit - including uploading it, giving it away, assigning synch rights, etc.

did they pay the royalty, or just cover the song?