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Recording Popular Music and Fair Use

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NoahC

Junior Member
I am currently in the process of applying for a Research/Creativity Grant. With this grant I plan on taking pop songs, such as "Royals" by Lorde, and re-making them using new instrumentation/orchestration. For example, I would put the song "Lorde" into a new context of Afro-Cuban rhythms and spanish guitars, or I could do a jazz version of Royals. Because I'm doing this from an educational grant, can I claim Fair Use on this project? It will be nonprofit, of course. The songs will be recorded, and possibly uploaded to YouTube or used in a portfolio of some of my work.

Any help would be great on this matter.
 


quincy

Senior Member
I am currently in the process of applying for a Research/Creativity Grant. With this grant I plan on taking pop songs, such as "Royals" by Lorde, and re-making them using new instrumentation/orchestration. For example, I would put the song "Lorde" into a new context of Afro-Cuban rhythms and spanish guitars, or I could do a jazz version of Royals. Because I'm doing this from an educational grant, can I claim Fair Use on this project? It will be nonprofit, of course. The songs will be recorded, and possibly uploaded to YouTube or used in a portfolio of some of my work.

Any help would be great on this matter.
What U.S. state are you in, Noah, or, if not in the U.S, which country are you in?
 

quincy

Senior Member
I am currently in the process of applying for a Research/Creativity Grant. With this grant I plan on taking pop songs, such as "Royals" by Lorde, and re-making them using new instrumentation/orchestration. For example, I would put the song "Lorde" into a new context of Afro-Cuban rhythms and spanish guitars, or I could do a jazz version of Royals. Because I'm doing this from an educational grant, can I claim Fair Use on this project? It will be nonprofit, of course. The songs will be recorded, and possibly uploaded to YouTube or used in a portfolio of some of my work.

Any help would be great on this matter.
For what you are proposing to do with the music, you will need to acquire licenses from the copyright holders.

Profit or nonprofit, recording and sharing these recordings would not fall under fair use (which, by the way, is not permission to use copyrighted material but rather offered as an affirmative defense to a copyright infringement action). You would be making derivatives of the originals and making derivatives is one of the exclusive rights granted the owner of a copyright.

For a good overview of fair use: http://fairuse.stanford.edu/Copyright_and_Fair_Use_Overview/chapter9/index.html
 
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TheGeekess

Keeper of the Kraken
For what you are proposing to do with the music, you will need to acquire licenses from the copyright holders.

Profit or nonprofit, recording and sharing these recordings would not fall under fair use (which, by the way, is not permission to use copyrighted material but rather offered as an affirmative defense to a copyright infringement action). You would be making derivatives of the originals and making derivatives is one of the exclusive rights granted the owner of a copyright.
Even Weird Al has to get permission before he makes his parodies. :cool:
 

quincy

Senior Member
Even Weird Al has to get permission before he makes his parodies. :cool:
What is interesting about Weird Al is that he gets permission for his parodies even when his parodies would likely be judged a fair use of the copyrighted material.

He has stated, however, that he will never use any material without the permission of the copyright holder. With this guiding his work, he has nicely avoided all lawsuits. He is such a good parodist that permission is rarely denied. :)
 

NoahC

Junior Member
You guys have been a lot of help!

I found this service online: xxxxxxxx

Should this be able to clear any most legal problems of recording these cover songs? If I complete this project with permissions, because I am doing it as a non-profit, how would I deal with distribution royalties? I'm not intending on making any money for this and offering it for free on YouTube. Can I still do this without having to pay for the per-stream option?
 
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quincy

Senior Member
You guys have been a lot of help!

I found this service online: xxxxxx

Should this be able to clear any most legal problems of recording these cover songs? If I complete this project with permissions, because I am doing it as a non-profit, how would I deal with distribution royalties? I'm not intending on making any money for this and offering it for free on YouTube. Can I still do this without having to pay for the per-stream option?
You can go to http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-fairuse.html and https://law.freeadvice.com/intellectual_property/music_law/permission.htm and http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/permission-sampled-music-sample-clearance-30165.html for some information on licensing music.

It does not matter if you are making money on another's copyrighted work or whether you are just recording for the heck of it. You still need permission to use the copyrighted works of others - and this generally requires a license from the copyright holder. Publishing on YouTube will get your work pulled and, more than likely, you will receive a notice of infringement.

This would not be a great way to get a Research/Creativity grant. ;)
 
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