Copyright Law Blog

Canadian Music Laws – All Talk With Little Substance

August 13th, 2009 at 12:43pm Under copyright law

Music software firms have got together in Canada to try and cut short the burgeoning free peer-to-peer music sharing in its tracks. They have succeeded in getting some legal and tax concessions in support of their cause. Take a look.

There is much talk that peer-to-peer is music download is responsible for declining music sales. While there may be some amount of truth to the statement, a large part of the decibels raised may well be due to good old plain rhetoric. Industry numbers suggest that the popularity of latest gizmos like DVDs, retail chain distribution changes, and reduced prices of CDs in the retail market all have been playing their own role in the so-called woes. The woes themselves may not be entirely true themselves, as the music industry has seen fair amount of growth in recent years.

It can also be said with reasonable surety that Canadian artists’ royalty losses have been offset by the private copying levy system. The Canadian Private Copying Collective alone has collected millions of dollars over the past few years with much of that revenue earmarked for Canadian artists.

Laws that require people to pay for simple music software goodies like the popular iTunes have the potential of nipping a nascent industry in the bud. Whereas Apple iTunes may well be able to survive the pressure by using its deep pockets, smaller players may not be so lucky. Copyright rules require music download industry to submit more than 40% of their revenue to the collectives.

Incredible as it may seem, even the 40% of gross revenues as envisioned by these tariffs may not cover all the rights that are associated with commercial music download services. It remains well within the realm of possibility that other groups, including collectives representing music performers and producers, may come forward to demand their piece of the cake by further cutting into online music services’ revenues.

While the well established players have settlements that have been well negotiated to their advantage with the record labels, it is the development of a viable economic model that the future growth of the industry depends on. The much maligned peer to peer downloads are actually already subject to a fair amount of compensation through the levy on private copying. The actual threat lies elsewhere – the collectives that essentially are poised to capture a very large share of the tiny market.

For tariff options, the webcasters and the online games industry are the ones in limelight. Others have been eyeing the multi-million online sharing music industry. As much as 25% of revenues, however, continue to come from the online websites that offer music sharing with free music software. The reproduction rights over online music are also being targeted to generate additional revenue in this vast field. Audio webcast sites that feature content similar to conventional radio stations, as well as from established radio stations that webcast their signal also well in the line of fire. Of course, there are different rates of taxes for different online services – varying from five percent to as high as twenty-five percent.

Be sure to be familiar with the laws before you go for the next download. It will help you stay out of trouble and keep your worries at bay. Best wishes, and happy downloading!

Ten Things You Might Not Know About Sheet Music

August 7th, 2009 at 12:41pm Under music copyright

1. A Book of Music Is Not Technically Sheet Music
The American Heritage Dictionary defines Sheet Music as “Compositions printed on unbound sheets of paper”. So books of music script would not (technically) be classed as sheet music.
2. “Sheet Music” Was The Title of an Album by 10CC
This was the second album written by 10CC which reached number nine in the UK album charts, and number eighty one in the USA. The 1974 release by the Manchester (England) band included the singles “The Wall Street Shuffle” and “Silly Love”.
3. Sheet Music or Score?
These two terms actually mean the same thing, as score is the more generic description of Sheet Music. There are several types of score including “full score”, “miniature score”, “piano score” etc. Score can also be used to refer to incidental music written for a play, TV or film.
4. The First Printed Sheet Music Book Appeared in 1457
The “Mainz Psalter” was the first book printed to include music notation. It was printed in Mainz, Germany but still had to have the notation filled in by hand!
5. The First Machine Printed Music Appeared in the 1473
The first sheet music publications printed on machines didn’t appear unitl 1473, almost 20 years after Gutenburg had invented the printing press. Before this most sheet music was written by hand! This was essentially when the Music industry as we know it began.
6. Chappell & Co Were Founded in 1810
Chappell and Co were founded in 1810 by Samuel Chappell, Francis Tatton Latour and Johann Baptist Cramer. They started by selling and publishing sheet music. It was only later that Chappell & Co began selling the pianos that they became so famous for. Chappell & Co now operate as two separate companies; the publishing company “Warner/Chappell Music”, and the music retailer “Chappell of Bond Street” (on Wardour Street, London).
7. Manuscript Paper is the Blank Form of Sheet Music
Manuscript paper is blank sheet music pre-printed with (typically) two sets of six staves on a line, marked with a “Clef” to indicate the key and pitch of the piece of music. It is sometimes referred to in the USA as “staff paper”. Manuscript paper can also be used to notate music for drums and guitar tablature! You can get hold of a blank piece of sheet music here: http://www.visionmusic.com/manuscript/paper.html
8. The Earliest Piece of Sheet Music was from 1400 BC
Clay tablets (transcribed by Prof. Anne Kilmer in 1972) containing the cuneiform signs of the Hurrian language contained a completed hymn with both words and music. The hymn related to the Moon God’s wife Nikal, and included instructions for vocals and harp.
9. Tablature Tells You Where To Put Your Fingers
As apposed to the traditional notation of sheet music, Tablature (or Tabulature/Tab) transcribes the music with the placement of fingers written as numbers. It is usually written for fretted instruments such as guitars, but can also be used for percussion and some other instruments.
10. Free Guitar Tabs Sites Are Not All Legal
But don’t worry, it is the websites themselves that are the only ones to be concerned. As of Monday December 12, 2005, distributing free tablature of copyrighted music using the Internet is considered illegal by the international music industry.
Several free tab sites were shut down in 2006 as a results of legal pressure from music publishers including MXtabs.net (now back online as a legitimate resource), and also Guitar Tab Universe who later re-launched as “Music Student and Teacher Organization” (MuSATO) claiming that as an educational resource they were not longer in breach of copywrite. The music industry maintain their opposition to free tab download websites.

Audio Galaxy, Music introduced

July 29th, 2009 at 06:41am Under music copyright

Audiogalaxy free download is committed to promoting and raising people’s understanding of music and broaden the range of music available that you might not know exists through a community of people who have a passion for music. The music application Features Auto-resuming: Never worry about resuming incomplete files. It is a file sharing system that indexed MP3 files. Audiogalaxy free download started out as the Borg Search, an FTP search engine written by Michael Merhej. Its stated mission was to facilitate sharing of music, though much more appears to have grown from its legacy.

The media application is great for that because of its unique group of users. Audiogalaxy free download is a cut above the rest of the peer-to-peer apps. The policy ran a type of centralized server, which means the company had some control over the types of files on its system. The music design company, which has consistently ranked among the most popular applications at Download. It has and is preventing a user from downloading certain more main stream songs. Some Features of its Auto-resuming: Never worry about resuming incomplete files. The Satellite is a real-time, transaction-based file-sharing system for MP3 users. The program is committed to promoting and raising people’s understanding of music and broaden the range of music available that you might not know exists through a community of people who have a passion for music.

The software program had to deal with several copy right cases. The popular Internet file-swapping service, agreed to filter copyrighted works as part of a legal settlement with the recording industry. The multimedia platform was accused of encouraging and facilitating the online trade in illegal music by “millions of individual, anonymous users”. But really Audiogalaxy free download was just trying to cooperate with the music industry and block copyrighted songs from their network. So nowadays the platform for online data exchange is coming back, in a big way. People who wish to have their music exchanged via Audiogalaxy free download may make their music available. The application is still allowed to provide a medium for people to exchange music.

The platform is great for that because of its unique group of users. Audiogalaxy free download also offers 25 megs of free Web space to musicians, so that they can post their MP3s, band information and images. Some Music categories here: rock, alternative, metal, blues, folk, jazz, rap and country. So you don’t have to be scared that your type of music isn’t presented. But important is that you must download, install, and run the Audiogalaxy free download Satellite for the system to work correctly. It resumes and best of all, you don’t have to worry about where it is downloading from, it automatically tracks the next best server. Requesting off-line files: If nobody is currently sharing the file you want, select it anyway because once somebody comes online with that file you will automatically start downloading it from them. SO don’t hesitate any longer and sign up for free today!

Download Free Music Without a Mess

July 22nd, 2009 at 06:42am Under music copyright

Is it possible to download free music and create a mess? Yes, indeed and it is all due to an obstinate little acronym known in the music biz as DRM. DRM, for those of you who are newbies in the music biz parlance, means digital rights management. And DRM happens to be a double-bladed sword that will dictate how you download free music without a mess or with a big splashy mess that can leave you bankrupt.

DRM means that the original creators and owners of a piece of digital data (like a music file) have the rights to restrict access to and ownership over their original product. People who believe in DRM say that this helps artists benefit from a continuous revenue stream due to sales of their original product over the years. This sounds fair, doesn’t it? Ah, but there are ironically people who don’t believe in DRM. These devil’s advocates believe that DRM stands in the way of improving the level of competition in the music industry and helping the public benefit from increased open access to copyrighted music.

How can you then download free music without a mess? That is the sticky part of the dilemma – at the rate data copying technologies are being advanced, promoted and disseminated to the public, it is becoming harder and harder for the original creators and owners of copyrighted music to exert control over who can get ownership over their original product. And if these original creators and owners cannot control access they also cannot control their profits.

Next question then is: do these original creators and owners of original copyrighted material have any right to more royalties over their original music creations when more people acquire more copies of the original products? DRM advocates say yes of course, that is the whole point of having rights over your original creation in the first place. DRM opponents say no, because it does not create a level playing field and makes some people (ie. the artists and the music labels) richer in the process. By rights, the DRM opponents say, such rich people should not get richer from future sales of their own products.

As you can see, the problem hinges on perception. From the perception of an artist who slaved for years to perfect his skills in music so he can come up with a great product, he has every right in the world to benefit from continuous sales of his music file through the years from anyone who cares to use that music in any form whatsoever. From the perception of a music label, the music company has the right to profit from the distribution of that music product in agreement with the original owner (the artist) because it took a risk by opting to distribute the music product for the artist. But, from the perception of a music-hungry public that wants free music (like getting to eat its cake yet enjoy it forever anyway), these artists and music labels have no rights to their music product which only “oppress the poor public.”

As you can see, it is very hard to download free music without a mess. It makes more ethical sense to simply pay for the CD or music download then take good care of your purchase for the rest of your life. That is what ethical business is all about. If you do intend to download free music without a mess, it better be from the authorized source of the music label and the original artist. Otherwise, it is better not to try to download free music without a mess.

Where Can I Get Free Videos For My Website Without Copyright Restrictions?

July 17th, 2009 at 10:27pm Under website copyright

Thanks in advance for your reply.

Lovecraft´s Tales Can Be Used For Free Adaptations Because The Copyright Protection Is Over?

July 17th, 2009 at 10:26am Under copyright protection

I ask this because I had watches diff infos and the copyrights law in the united states as change a lot in the 20th century.

Can Anyone Tell Me Of A Website Where I Can Download Copyright Free Photos Of Plants?

July 16th, 2009 at 10:29pm Under website copyright

Can anyone tell me of a website that will let me download copyright free photos of plants? I need photos of container gardens, hanging baskets, flower beds and all that good stuff. Thanks.

New Way to Search for Free Music on the Net

July 16th, 2009 at 06:42pm Under music copyright

One new way to search for free music on the net is to use the music search engines. Three examples of music search engines are Skreemr, Sonqza, and SeeqPod. These three search engines function as a new way to search for free music on the net by indexing the World Wide Web to scout around for specific music files uploaded to certain servers. You can use this new way to search for free music on the net by either identifying a song title, or a name of an artist, as your search parameters.

However, there is an element of legal uncertainty with use of music search engines because most music search engines do not pay any royalties for the music you can get through them. So though they are the new way to search for free music on the net, the existence of these music search engines may be founded on shaky legal ground as they operate now. Think copyright infringement.

So if these music search engines seem guilty of copyright infringement in nearly each and every case where they dish up music to Internet users, why is it they are still allowed to operate anyway? The problem lies in the fact that current interpretation of copyright law happens to favor search engines to a great extent. Since music search engines do not host the music themselves but instead tap into other servers that host the music files, the culpability of the music search engines seems to be zero. According to Google counsel Andrew Bridges, it is highly possible that music search engines can be found guiltier of contributory infringement instead. But that type of charge against music search engines is also problematic to pursue because there has not been a definitive case for contributory infringement to set a legal precedent yet.

Provided the music search engine never stores the actual music files on its own server, at present it cannot be sued for copyright infringement and it is highly unlikely it will be sued for contributory infringement either. To make a case against a music search engine that tries to function as the new way to search for free music on the net, you would need to prove that there was motivation and intent to defraud the music creators of their royalties that come with every sale of their music product. And to make that charge stick would mean being able to trace the entire process from initiating a search for an artist or a music title to being able to download the actual music into your own PC. In a virtual world where prowess in technology means that you can change data at will, that is pretty hard to achieve.

There are actually websites which tread on the safe side of the law (such as Imeem.com) where you can give you legally-acquired music files when and how you need them. If you are seeking a legal yet new way to search for free music on the net, it is generally advisable to rely on these more law-abiding sites instead.

Intellectual Property Agreement

July 16th, 2009 at 12:41am Under intellectual property

An Intellectual Property Agreement (”IP Agreement”), also called an Intellectual Property Transfer Agreement or Intellectual Property Assignment Agreement, consummates and formalizes an agreement between two companies for the purchase and sale of intellectual property rights. The Intellectual Property being purchased can consist of copyrights, trademarks, moral rights, and/or patents. (Moral rights are recognized in Europe, but not the United States. Thus, a transfer of moral rights would only be applicable in an international agreement.) As opposed to an IP License Agreement, the purchaser or assignee in an IP Transfer Agreement takes total and exclusive ownership and control of the IP rights, and is free to use those rights however he or she wishes.
When drafting an IP Agreement, be sure to consider including the following provisions:
1. Assignment and Waiver of Moral Rights. Moral rights, recognized in Europe but not the U.S., involve general rights in respect to the intellectual property. In this provisions, the assignor must irrevocably and in perpetuity waive, in favor of Assignee, all moral rights in and to the transferred intellectual property, including the following:
* a. The right to restrain or claim damages for any distortion, mutilation, or other modification of the transferred IP;
* b. The right to be associate with the transferred IP; and
* c. The right to restrain use or reproduction of the transferred IP
* d. This waiver shall be binding upon the heirs, executors, employees, directors and all successors involved in the creation of the IP.
2. Representations and Warranties. It is important to include a representations and warranties paragraph in the agreement where the assignor promises that it has the full authority to assign the transferred intellectual property, free and clear of any material encumbrances, liens, or claims against the property. The assignor must also promise that it has the full authority to waive all moral rights.
3. Non-disclosure. The assignor should promise, for itself, its officers, directors, shareholders, etc., that it agrees that, except with the assignee’s express prior written consent, that it will not disseminate, disclose, or use, or permit to be used, any of the transferred intellectual property, since upon execution of the agreement the IP is property of the assignee.
4. Damages Inadequate. The assignee may want to include a provision whereby the assignee must concede that damages at law by itself may not be an adequate remedy for a breach of the agreement. In the event of a breach, the assignee’s rights may be enforceable by specific performance, injunction, or other equitable remedy, as opposed to remedies at law.
5. Assignment of the Agreement. The assignee may wish to require their prior written consent before the assignor is allowed to assign the agreement to a third party.
6. Governing Law. The parties should agree which state will govern the agreement, and if they desire, could include a binding arbitration provision in an effort to seek a speedy resolution to any dispute.
These are the key provisions that must be included in an Intellectual Property Agreement. To read and download actual IP agreements, please visit the agreement section of this website.

Where Can I Download Royalty Free /non Copyright Music?

July 15th, 2009 at 04:25am Under music copyright

Where can I download royalty free /non copyright music for free to use in a video. I want to uploaded to a site. I have to use royalty free music.