Copyright

[fiddleman732]

So how does the copyright work for the lessons on this website? If it is copyrighted does that mean we shouldn’t play it in contests? Or what if we want to make a video using the version taught on this website? Are we allowed to do those sort of things?

Thanks! FM

[Casey Willis]

Hi, FM. The copyright is for each video performance, not the use of the song. In other words, the videos on fiddlevideo.com may not be replicated or reposted. There is no limitation on playing any of these songs, sir. And of course, you can record a video of yourself playing any of them.

The only issues you might run into is if you were to record a video or audio track and try to sell it…then you would need to figure out royalties to the owner of the composition copyright. That goes for any song, not just those on this site.

So for personal use, there are no restrictions…Hope that helps.

Thanks!

[ulla_petersen]

Hi Casey (and everybody else 🙂 )

Copyright law is explained in an easy-to-understand way in SoundClouds “Learn About Copyright” web page at https://soundcloud.com/pages/copyright.

Put very shortly, you cannot perform a work publicly without explicit permission from the copyright owner(s), which make very good sense, because if the work is publicly available, e.g. on Youtube or SoundCloud, then people can listen to it without paying for it.

So it is NOT a question of wether you make money on your performance, but of wether you make the work publicly available!

In order to avoid copy right infringement, use the checklists on the SoundCLoud page; I quote:

For music uploads:

Can you answer “yes” to all of the following questions?
• Did you compose the music yourself?
• Did you write the lyrics yourself?
• Did you record and produce the track yourself or do you have permission from the producer or record label that made the recording?
• Do you have written permission from all copyright owners to use any samples contained in the track?

Can you answer “no” to all of the following questions?
• Were you signed to a record label when you recorded the track?
• Do you have a publishing deal?
• Are you a member of a performing rights organization or collecting society?
• Have you licensed your track to anyone else?
• Does the track contain the entirety or any part of someone else’s song(s) Is it based on someone else’s song(s)?

The full US law on copyright can be found here: http://www.copyright.gov/title17/

Here are a few relevant paragraphs:

§ 101 . Definitions2 (from http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html):
To “perform” a work means to recite, render, play, dance, or act it, either directly or by means of any device or process or, in the case of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, to show its images in any sequence or to make the sounds accompanying it audible.
To perform or display a work “publicly” means—
(1) to perform or display it at a place open to the public or at any place where a substantial number of persons outside of a normal circle of a family and its social acquaintances is gathered; or
(2) to transmit or otherwise communicate a performance or display of the work to a place specified by clause (1) or to the public, by means of any device or process, whether the members of the public capable of receiving the performance or display receive it in the same place or in separate places and at the same time or at different times.

§ 106 . Exclusive rights in copyrighted works38
Subject to sections 107 through 122, the owner of copyright under this title has the exclusive rights to do and to authorize any of the following:
(1) to reproduce the copyrighted work in copies or phonorecords;
(2) to prepare derivative works based upon the copyrighted work;
(3) to distribute copies or phonorecords of the copyrighted work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending;
(4) in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion pictures and other audiovisual works, to perform the copyrighted work publicly;
(5) in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works, including the individual images of a motion picture or other audiovisual work, to display the copyrighted work publicly; and
(6) in the case of sound recordings, to perform the copyrighted work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission.

§ 201 . Ownership of copyright1 (from http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap2.html):
(a) INITIAL OWNERSHIP. — Copyright in a work protected under this title vests initially in the author or authors of the work. The authors of a joint work are coowners of copyright in the work.

§ 302 . Duration of copyright: Works created on or after January 1, 19784 (from http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap3.html):
(a) IN GENERAL. — Copyright in a work created on or after January 1, 1978, subsists from its creation and, except as provided by the following subsections, endures for a term consisting of the life of the author and 70 years after the author’s death.

[Casey Willis]

Thanks for that info, Ulla. It’s certainly complex.

I think you’ll be fine playing anything you want at a contest, FM. Fiddle music is not highly commercialized and is passed along by playing in groups, many times in public. I’ve never heard of anyone having any trouble playing fiddle tunes in a contest.

If you were to post something to YouTube, you might receive a notification from YouTube that someone owned the copyright to that work and they would place an advertisment in your video.

Best of luck!

[ulla_petersen]

It is a question of how hard the copyright holders defend their rights. I do not know about American fiddle contests, but I do know for sure (because Danish newspapers wrote about it) that Danes have been threatened with legal action by foreign record companies because they published a homemade version of a big hit on Youtube.

So if you want to be absolutely sure to avoid legal battles, it is really quite simple:

Do not play publicly or give public access to music that is copyrighted!

[fiddleman732]

Thank you for the answers!

[GreenFiddler]

Of course, any song correctly called “traditional” is free of copyright (except, perhaps, for the arrangement). Right?

[ulla_petersen]

Right! 🙂

[Roland White]

Hi All, FYI I have also seen the initials PD used which I came to find out means Public Domain, also free of copyright.

Merry Christmas to all, Roland

[Author]

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