I canāt (or at least not supposed to) play any song that is copyright w/o the authors permission? At least not play it and let others hear it w/o paying up (or getting permission) to the author.
Iāve been concerned about this for a bit now. Today I worked at a coffee shop and ask the owner if he had open mic nights. He said NO. Due to āhimā having to pay copyright fees, or if he didnāt, paying large fines for copyright infringement. He donāt have open mic nights as of right now due to this rule that heās afraid of breaking and having to pay (tens of) thousands in fines.
He said for 25 years he had open mic nights, but as of ānowā he aināt hip due to someone catching up to him and making him pay. He said whoever (you or me) did a copyright infringement song was not relevant. He, as the biz owner had to pay the fines.
I wonder, who gets the fees for Bach and Beethoven songs?
Iām also thinking of eagles songs by don henley who apparently donāt want anyone to play his eagles song w/o paying up.
Anyway, if I have to get permission from the author to play their song, this kinda takes the wind out of my sail as to playing any song that I didnāt write (and Iāve not wrote any at all, so what would I play?).
I donāt want to steal from others. But I surly donāt want to ask or pay for permission every time I want to learn someone elseās song.
Always fearing that I may be doing copyright infringement.
As for the few songs Iāve done that Iāve posted to youtube. From memory, they all say copyright, but permission grated I think. But even that, I have considered taking them all down for fear of infringing on someone elseās tune.
You cannot play songs for money without the copywrite holders permission. The copywrite holder is not necessarily the writer.
In the case of the coffee shop he is making money off people playing music so he pays a small fee to(there are many companies who cover copyright fees) and can hold open mics.
In your case youtube handle all this and you get nothing.
Donāt live in fear. Youtube will take your video down if itās not allowed. I had the same fear when I started posting stuff on youtube and I only do covers. Theyāll advise when you upload the video that it is recognized as a cover of copyright material and then it wonāt allow you to make money of their adverts on your video.
If you pay attention to other amateurs, we all play copyright material and Iāve never heard of anyone getting in any kind of trouble. If you create a cd, thereās a different process to go through. Again donāt live in fear, play whatever song grabs your fancy and sleep well. Youāll be fine.
Just in addition, re Bach, Beethoven etcā¦these tunes are now in the public domain. Most tunes, after a certain period move to the public domain ; 80 yrs or so after an artistās death or something like that.
Me either, except for them folks that are playing eagles songs. At least thatās what Iāve read here on this forum. I canāt remember what the consequences were, but I think who ever covered some of these song were advised to remove the song that was covered.
As of right now, I only think I know covers of others music. I donāt loose sleep over it, but I donāt want to step on someone elseās āinventionā (music) either.
Interesting. I really was wondering since they are both long gone.
Guess I will continue doing my covers of other folks songs and just keep my eyeās open to if someone donāt want me to play their song.
Sounds like I perhaps am covered in that Iāve no intention of thinking of trying to making money off any song Iāve ever done. I play for my own enjoyment and the songs that I do post, Iām more like looking for info on how I can do whatever song better from others listening to what I do.
Thanks for the comments folks.
My mind is mostly at ease nowā¦
At the very least, I feel somewhat better informed.
Copyright lasts for 70 years after the authorās death. After this period, the works enter the public domain and can be exploited without the permission of the copyright holders.
@Lisa_S will tell you different. She got a YouTube copyright strike for her cover of Anchorage by Michelle Shocked. That said, thatās the only time Iāve ever heard of an amateur cover getting a strike from anyone other than Don Henley, and I certainly havenāt lost any sleep over it. In any case, your YT channel is only endangered if you get 3 strikes in a 90 day period!
This is an interesting topic on the coffee shop, YouTube as mentioned above will handle it themselves anyway.
So a bit of context, I owned and ran my own independent coffee shop here in the UK a few years back and this is exactly the case here. There used to be 2 bodies here that you could pay an annual fee to that would basically give you the right to play music (ie Spotify or music radio) in the shop and that fee would cover āyourā royalty payments for the artists. The organisations merged in, I think, 2018 to become a single entity called PRS (quite coincidental for us Mr Smith guitar owners!!). This would also cover live music playing in the shop for open mics or individual artists to play if we hosted it. The fee was about Ā£200 per year back then so probably somewhere in the region of Ā£250 to Ā£300 now.
I appreciate weāre talking a different country with your encounter @HappyCat but Iād be really surprised if the approach was that much different. With that assumption, and yes we all know what assuming can do, does that mean the coffee shop plays NO music whatsoever in the shop? Iām curious more than anything as that would make for a pretty dull environment imo!
In the UK, anyone can seek a licence - there are many types - from the Performing Right Society (PRS). Live music or Playing Music At Work covers cafes, bars & open mics etc. c.
Your cafe owner wonāt be liable for any fines if he pays his due fee for a licence.
We have had this discussion several times.
You will not get taken down.
you will not face legal action.
Are you sure it was a strike and not a claim?
They are very different.
Three strikes is serious - that is why Justin removed all Eagles content.
Claims are nothing at all to be concerned about.
Itās hard to believe isnāt it? I asked her exactly that question, she confirmed it was a strike, and later in the thread (which is linked above in my reply to @happycat Jim) someone posted confirmation from the horseās mouth in the shape of a screenshot of a post by Michelle Shocked basically declaring war on covers)
What I donāt understand is if this is a āgoogleā¦declaring war on artistsā¦ā why arenāt there a lot more of these artists also telling their fans to cease and desist? Or is this Michelle person over-reacting?
Similarly, the BBC used to have a youtu.be series where artists taught you how to play their songs. What Finneas says at around the 4.30 minutes mark is what they should all be saying.
That Michelle Shocked post (whoever she is - I genuinely donāt know her) is so funny. Donāt you dare play my music or Iāll sue, Love Michelle!!!
The thing is it guarantees Iāll never listen to her music now so sheāll make nothing from me. Itās like when the Rolling Stones songs disappeared from Justinās songs app and I immediately stopped learning their songs. Thereās plenty of other artists to listen to, music is not in short supply!
Ian @theoldman66, you are perfectly right, I received a strike from Michelle Shocked back then. Except from from being shocked (pun intended ) for a moment, actually no harm was done. YouTube took the video down, I received a strike - giving me room for another 2 until my account would be in serious trouble. There was a little copyright-related tutorial I had to watch and then wait 90 days for a clean sheet again. That was it.
Well not totally. Before that happened, I really loved to play that song. Since then, I probably only played it once again, the joy was all gone. The message/screenshot James shared in my thread was like a slap in a face of a fan. So she gets what she desires and her (in parts quite nice) music will vanish in mist over the yearsā¦
For me personally, I will continue to cover music I love and if itās good enough to share, I will do so, except for known strikers - but thatās also mainly music I would not play anyhow (because of lack of skill ).
) for a moment, actually no harm was done. YouTube took the video down, I received a strike - giving me room for another 2 until my account would be in serious trouble. There was a little copyright-related tutorial I had to watch and then wait 90 days for a clean sheet again. That was it. 