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Not quite covers, not quite samples

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eskinner

Junior Member
I live in New York.
My band plays mashed up cover songs with original instrumentations. For example, we do Sweet Child O' Mine (by guns and roses) on guitar, accordion, theremin, and drums, with the theremin playing most of the guitar parts. Then we sing a section "Since You've Been Gone" by kelly clarkson on top of it. Or, in one song the guitar plays the riff from "Sweet Home Alabama", half of the band plays a sings "Feel Like Making Love" and the other half plays and sings "Black Water".
We would like to record a demo EP, but I'm not sure what sort of permissions we need. I am not sure we are close enough to the original works to require any sort of licensing - everything I have found online is either about straight covers or sampling.
Thanks for any advice you can offer!
 


quincy

Senior Member
You generally must request permission and secure licenses from the copyright owner prior to making an audio recording. The copyright owner's name is listed in the copyright notice - on printed music, it is generally found on the bottom of the first page and on recordings it can usually be found on the packaging. The notice will have the word copyright or symbols (c or p) followed by the first year of publication and the copyright owner.

Some copyright owner's may grant permission for use over the phone, but this is generally not the case. You can make an original recording of a copyrighted song by contacting the owner and obtaining a "mechanical license" (you will be charged a fee). If you are unsure whether the use of PART of a copyrighted song will require a license, it is best to check with the owner. Often even using a small portion of a copyighted song can be considered a "derivative" of that song and protected by the copyright. If the song is recognizable, it generally will require a license.

For more information, you can go to www.copyright.gov.
 
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divgradcurl

Senior Member
I live in New York.
My band plays mashed up cover songs with original instrumentations. For example, we do Sweet Child O' Mine (by guns and roses) on guitar, accordion, theremin, and drums, with the theremin playing most of the guitar parts. Then we sing a section "Since You've Been Gone" by kelly clarkson on top of it. Or, in one song the guitar plays the riff from "Sweet Home Alabama", half of the band plays a sings "Feel Like Making Love" and the other half plays and sings "Black Water".
We would like to record a demo EP, but I'm not sure what sort of permissions we need. I am not sure we are close enough to the original works to require any sort of licensing - everything I have found online is either about straight covers or sampling.
Thanks for any advice you can offer!
You would probably want a license for the "musical work" for each song that you use as part of your work. You can purchase licenses from the Harry Fox Agency, which is an organization set up to sell and distribute these sorts of licenses. Licenses to the musical works are compulsory, which means they have to sell you one if you want one, and the prices are fixed by statute.

If you are using the recorded versions of the songs, then, in addition to the licenses above, you will also need a license for the "sound recording" -- however, these licenses are NOT compulsory, the prices are NOT set by statute, and you will have to negotiate with the copyright holder (usually the record label) for each license.

But if you are making your own recordings, you only need the mechanical licenses from the Harry Fox Agency.

Now, if you are just using a small part of a song, it's possible you could argue "fair use" and not purchase a license --- but to be safe, you are better off purchasing the licenses for each song you are using a part of. Note that even a part of a song is going to be a "cover" for the purposes of licensing.
 

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