Could someone please explain/translate?

Question

http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#114

Please, no smart-@ss comments. Thanks.

thanks for your answer. So basically, any musician can re-create a copyrighted song using his/her own instruments without violating copyright laws? Is it legal to upload that person's own version of the song to his website for other visitors to listen to?

Answer 1

No! Because copyright gives the copyright owner a "bundle of rights" that includes the right to reproduce, the right to make derivative works, and the right to license their work. In music, there is the "sound recording" right as well as the publication right. In other words, you can violate copyright by getting the sheet music and copying it, or by copying the CD of someone singing the song, or both. Oftentimes the sound recording rights and the publication rights are owned by different people, and you must get BOTH of those peoples' permissions when using the sound recording.

You cannot simply take a song someone else wrote, perform it yourself, and call it your "own" music. You may own the sound recording rights, but you don't own the publication right, or the "public performance" right. Thus, you're violating copyright. (Technically, cover bands violate the "performance" right unless the businesses at which they perform have general performance right licenses from ASCAP or BMI.)
That's why, when people do covers, they have to get the permission of the copyright holder.
The situation is trickier when you're doing "sampling," but even then in general professionals get permission.

Answer 2

I am an IP attorney.

the section that you posted has to do with copyrighted sound recordings and the public transmission thereof.

You are talking about an entirely different subject. That is, recording a song that is the intellectual property of another.

Legally, you CANNOT use copyrighted material, for any purpose, without the copyright owner's permission.

Obviously, unauthorized use is very difficult to enforce. But technically the law requires that you obtain permission. Usually, copyright owners do not enforce unauthorized uses, unless the use is done by a large commercial enterprise.

As an example, I had a photo portrait done of myself, and I wanted to scan it and post it on my website. The portrait was copyrighted. The Web hosting service required that I got a signed waiver from the photography studio before it allowed me to post on the web site.

I think the situation I described above is very similar to your circumstances.

Answer 3

Its about sound recordings. What part of taht copyright clause did you need a specific understanding of?

If you made the recording of an original production/piece, then you have exclusive rights to that recording, and are able to duplicate them yourself, and distribute them.

Listed are also exemptions that would be allowed to use your recording by others under specific situations.