i got youtube copyright violations for my uploads

[tugshank]

saw a similar post on how to circumvent this (dodgy) that got closed. wanted to chime in (legit).

anyway, bedroom musician here, and i got copyright violations for backing tracks i produced a few years back which sound nothing like the originals (unless you're deaf). should i just let it slide (lol)? youtube said i dont have to do anything (i dont remember details).

surely, anyone with two ears could easily tell that these dont sound like the originals...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sCDlJeB9vOI
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DK-FGkSy20U
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=djU65lQPM1A
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0Fqof-BWX-c

[JVRaines]

Copyright covers more than the original recording. It covers the composition itself and includes the right to make derivative works, such as your backing tracks. That's why you got flagged.

[manono]

Yes, although it might depend on exactly what was claimed to be copyrighted. For a sound recording copyright claim (especially if they also name the original recording artist) I might file a dispute. But if someone claims a music composition copyright, then you have no case and shouldn't file a dispute.

So, a little more information might help. Who filed the copyright claims and for what, exactly? And I take it you're not trying to monetize the videos?

[tugshank]

"derivative works"! holy cr@p. so who owns the I-VI-IV-V chord progression? just kidding. thanks for that bit of info. "derivative", to my ears, sounds ambiguous and offers a lot of wiggle room for lawyers.

[tugshank]

@manono yeah thats the funny part, its a hobby with potential legal implications. lol

[JVRaines]

"derivative works"! holy cr@p. so who owns the I-VI-IV-V chord progression? just kidding. thanks for that bit of info. "derivative", to my ears, sounds ambiguous and offers a lot of wiggle room for lawyers.

It's been litigated ad nauseam, as you may imagine, and the courts have a pretty good idea what it means.
(Copyright covers works of original authorship … the authors of stock chord progressions are long gone and such things are public domain.)

[johnmeyer]

Copyright claims can be pretty broad. Sometimes they get litigated, sometimes they don't. George Harrison had to pay up for "My Sweet Lord" because the Chiffons claimed it sounded like their song, "He's So Fine." If you listen to both of them, it is quite a stretch.

Sweet Lord/He's So Fine Mashup

By contrast, the Eagles got away with an almost direct copy of Jethro's Tull's "We Used To Know" when they produced their most famous song, "Hotel California." I assume everyone knows, by heart, the Eagles song. Here is Jethro Tull's song which preceded it by half a decade:

We Used To Know

While they never ended up in court, when various Eagle members have been asked about the similarity over the years, they too made the same comment about how can anyone copyright a basic chord progression? Of course there is a lot more to a song than just the chords, most importantly the melody, but also the harmonies, etc.

When rap made its unfortunate appearance on the scene a few decades ago, and "sampling" became common, many artists found themselves the target of lawsuits even though they often sampled only a few seconds of a song, and even though that sample was usually massively changed. They still had to pay damages when the owner of the song sued.

Very few people can create music that can break through the millions of songs already written, and which can catch the imagination of the world. Those people, IMHO, deserve to be able to profit from their genius, and have every right to protect their creation.

One other thing you should know is that some YouTube copyright claims -- and these are usually the ones that can get your upload privileges restricted (I've had it happen, so I know) -- are for "sync rights." Some artists get really, really angry when their music gets used in conjunction with a video or and event with which they don't agree. Imagine that you finally manage to get a number one hit, and then find that some skinhead group is using it as the music to accompany disturbing images that support their cause. You'd flip out. Fortunately for the artist, the "sync rights" portion of the copyright law gives the artist the total right to have a cease and desist order issued.

Many copyright claims on YouTube are for "music video" creations where someone adds music to their own images.

[JVRaines]

Fortunately for the artist, the "sync rights" portion of the copyright law gives the artist the total right to have a cease and desist order issued.

I never heard that before. What portion of the law is that?

[johns0]

Copyright claims can be pretty broad. Sometimes they get litigated, sometimes they don't. George Harrison had to pay up for "My Sweet Lord" because the Chiffons claimed it sounded like their song, "He's So Fine." If you listen to both of them, it is quite a stretch.

Sweet Lord/He's So Fine Mashup

As to that song it sounds the same to me with a few minor changes and slower beat.

[godai]

that happen to me, with few videos that i did , i just use a cover of song and they dont bother me again.

[Cornucopia]

Copyright claims can be pretty broad. Sometimes they get litigated, sometimes they don't. George Harrison had to pay up for "My Sweet Lord" because the Chiffons claimed it sounded like their song, "He's So Fine." If you listen to both of them, it is quite a stretch.

Sweet Lord/He's So Fine Mashup

As to that song it sounds the same to me with a few minor changes and slower beat.

The backing chords & simple verse sections are quite similar, but what makes My Sweet Lord unique (besides George's voice & the lyrics) is the awesome electric slide guitar lead for which he is well known. Notice it is in over half the song, in the foreground. And it doesn't exist in He's So Fine. Also, thankfully, his does not include anything like the goofy Neil Sedaka-esque bridge.
So he was hosed, mainly because lawyers seemingly have more sway in musical law than musicians do.

Back on topic, covers can also get takedown notices. Just play it safe and either use PD works, create your own stuff (which if you can do backing stuff, you are on your way), modify works beyond recognition, or just get permission first.

Scott

[johnmeyer]

Two quick points:

That "mashup" I posted, where "My Sweet Lord" and "She's So Fine" are played simultaneously was created by altering the tempo of "She's So Fine." When that is done, they do sound similar. However, as already pointed out, the tempo, "orchestration" (especially the slide guitar), and other factors do make them sound totally different when played at full speed.

As for sync rights, I spent a LOT of time looking into this and discussing this with others when I first started producing year-end sports highlight videos about fifteen years ago. Since I seldom posted my work, no one came after me, but since I made all my money in computer software (way back in the 1980s), I was very familiar with copyright law, and very eager to respect other people's rights. Here is a link to a quick overview of sync rights:

Sync Rights

Here's the key thing you need to know: performance rights (i.e., the ability to legally perform a song in public) are very easy to get because ASCAP, BMI, and the other licensing agencies have a form you can fill out, and a mechanism for payment. You pay your money and you can perform. However, the USA copyright office has never put together a way for you or I to get the rights to sync music to our video creation and then post it online or sell it (by contrast, many other countries do have a sync right royalty mechanism built into their laws). Instead, the only legal way (in the USA) you can use pre-existing music (including a cover, BTW) is to contact both the artist and the record company directly and negotiate usage rights with him, or her, or their agent. Obviously you or I cannot contact Taylor Swift and ask her if we can use "Shake It Off" so we are all left in this very uneasy no-man's land where we have to either stay under the radar and do something that is almost certainly not entirely legal, or else try to compose our own "music" usually by using one of these programs that lets you combine beats and royalty-free loops. The result is, of course, pretty awful.

[sophisticles]

Copyright claims can be pretty broad. Sometimes they get litigated, sometimes they don't. George Harrison had to pay up for "My Sweet Lord" because the Chiffons claimed it sounded like their song, "He's So Fine." If you listen to both of them, it is quite a stretch.

Sweet Lord/He's So Fine Mashup

By contrast, the Eagles got away with an almost direct copy of Jethro's Tull's "We Used To Know" when they produced their most famous song, "Hotel California." I assume everyone knows, by heart, the Eagles song. Here is Jethro Tull's song which preceded it by half a decade:

We Used To Know

While they never ended up in court, when various Eagle members have been asked about the similarity over the years, they too made the same comment about how can anyone copyright a basic chord progression? Of course there is a lot more to a song than just the chords, most importantly the melody, but also the harmonies, etc.

I think you may have it backwards, to me the first example sounds almost exactly the same and the second sounds nothing alike.

[JVRaines]

Obviously you or I cannot contact Taylor Swift and ask her if we can use "Shake It Off" …

Sure you can:
licensing@bigmachinemail.com

The problem is getting them to write back.

[johnmeyer]

The problem is getting them to write back.

You got that right!

[raffriff42]

There are so many sources of free music...here are some I recommend:
https://www.jamendo.com/
http://freemusicarchive.org/
http://dig.ccmixter.org/
http://www.soundcloud.org/
http://www.archive.org/details/audio_music (mostly public domain)
http://www.mobygratis.com/film-music.html (Moby)
http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/ (Kevin MacLeod)
https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/369594-Free-Music-Resource (Eric Matyas)
https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/music

You need to put in the time and explore each site to find the music you're looking for. The selection is huge.
For video soundtracks, you need to check the license to make sure "derivative works" are allowed.

There are more sites listed here that I haven't visited yet:
https://forums.adobe.com/thread/591951?tstart=0