Copyright ... Permissions?

If you are doing a complete cover then I think you would need to get permission.
If you change it in some way to make it your own then I dont think yuo do need permission.

Yes Id say the kareoke people do need to get permission to use all the songs.

Say you were wanting to make money, you couldnt get thousands of painted copies of the Mona Lisa and sell them on, youd be making money out of someone elses work.But if you did something to it to make it into a completely new piece of work then it should be ok.

I have the same problem with using picture for my hobby, but luckily I have been able to find some copyright free sources.

Dont take my word for it tho, have a google.

Thanks, Material Girl.

What do you mean by "complete cover"?

Use the same instrument, stick to exactly the same notes, basically not change it at all.

Again, Im no expert but I do think you need some kind of permission.
Try finding out who has the rights to the song, email the record company who the artist recorded with.It can only help.

Actually, karaoke operators or the establishments that hire them do have to pay fees to cover copyrighted materials. They have agents that visit bars, etc. to enforce this.

Believe it or not, they even charge fees when the material being sung by children is ABC's, Jesus Loves Me or other songs one would expect to be "free" by now.

Bear could give you more info when he arrives.

The karaoke versions of songs are not exact copies as far as instrumentation, but still fall under copyright.

Thanks to both of you.

Yes, I could contact the publishing house.

I'd be doing the same song, but with a different emphasis in places, but the same notes and words. Without instruments at all, though. So, that would be different.

Parodies are accorded a special status in copyright cases. Since a parody can't really succeed unless it borrows substantially from the parodied work, the normal rule that substantial borrowing amounts to infringement doesn't fit in this area. In judging whether a parody infringes on the parodied work, Courts will look at four factors: (1) purpose and character of the use, including whether the use is commercially motivated or instead is for nonprofit educational purposes; (2) nature of the copyrighted work; (3) amount and substantiality of the portion used in the newly created work in relation to the copyrighted work; and (4) effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work (check out this link for a more thorough discussion). Without knowing more about your parody or the manner in which you intend to use it, dupre, it would be impossible for me to say whether you would be infringing on the original work's copyright or not.

Thanks, JoefromChicago.

I'm sending it to you by PM.

uh ... I do get the reason for copyright, since I'm feeling some "ownership" of my take on the song ...

How do I get the PM out of the "out" box into the "sent" box?

As a professional comedy writer I feel qualified to answer this question. So long as you are not profitting from the material it's unlikely anyone will sue you. However, once you strat making money off using the material without permission it's lawsuit time!

Nothing you can do -- it moves when the person you've sent it to reads it. (As in, if it's in the outbox it's unread -- if it's in the sent box it's been read.)

Ooooohh!

Thanks!

dupre: I'll be happy to look at your song, and I'll give you my thoughts on it, but I can't offer you a legal opinion. First of all, copyright is not my area of specialization (although I've handled copyright cases in the past), and secondly it would be unprofessional of me to offer an opinion without knowing all of the relevant facts.

Many thanks.

The song I'm interested in using is "Skylark"

Published in 1941.

It would be without instruments, so there's no chance of using a later copyrighted version.

http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:bdNxHyLR0cAJ:www.dlib.indiana.edu/collections/hoagy/research/discography/+%22skylark%22+%22hoagy%22+%22publishing%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=3

So, isn't this now in the Public Domain??

yeah !! m agree, you should take permission to copyright.