Hi. I have a friend with a recording studio and i would like to record some songs. It is just for personal use, not for selling (eg, to give to my grandma lol!). so, i was just wondering if i record a song by someone else do i need to get their permission? I'm not a song writer, but i'd like to record some other peoples songs, just me and a piano. Is it illegal even if i'm not selling them or anything?
2007-02-01 07:57:47 · 2 answers · asked by havinfun 3 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
copyright laws prevent you from using someone elses material for financial gain or fame or notoriety....
If no one but the person with the studio and you and your grandma ever knows you did it you'd et away with it... however if the recoded product is ever bought or sold... or copied for distribution or played publicly then you have broken the copyright laws....
The simplest thing to do is to contact the copyright owner/s and ask for permission to make a single recording of the song. You may find that the lyrics are owned by one person and the music right by another in which case you need permission from both people or organisations... often songs are owned by the recording company that released it..
While asking for permission you can of course offer to give them a copy of the recording... which is a nice thing to do..
To get full information on copyright laws then I suggest you google "berne convention" which will get you to the website that has a full transcript of the copyright law as it applies in every country that is a member of the berne convention.... which is most of the major countries....
2007-02-02 08:44:02 · answer #1 · answered by wollemi_pine_writer 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This is a grey area of the copyright law. You would probably be fine doing this (and since no one but you and your grandma would even know about it, I'm doubting they could object). People do this all the time and it's a fairly standard practice. My son plays the guitar and drums and I have made literally hundreds of videos of him playing music...all of which he did not write.
However, it is a nice gesture to ask for permission first...especially if you enjoy the music.
2007-02-01 21:59:01 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋