Infringing Copyrights RE: [Ansteorra] looking for song

[Barat]

Sorry for the late response to this, but I've been out of circulation 
for two weeks.

The information you presented on copyright is incorrect. The following 
information is taken directly from U.S. Copyright Circular 1: Copyright 
Basics.

http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html

and the information on fair use includes information taken from the 
1961 Report of the Register of Copyrights on the General Revision of 
the U.S. Copyright Law which sites the findings of several court cases 
concerning fair use. Please note the information on parodies as it is 
directly applicable to S.C.A. song "filking".

________________________________________


Copyright, a form of intellectual property law, protects original works 
of authorship including: literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic 
works - such as poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer software, and 
architecture

A work is under Copyright protection the moment it’s: created and fixed 
in a tangible form so that it is perceptible either directly or with 
the aid of a machine or device (such as a computer or tape/CD player).

How long does copyright last? For works created after January 1, 1978, 
copyright protection will endure for the life of the author plus an 
additional 70 years. In the case of a joint work, the term lasts for 70 
years after the last surviving author’s death. For anonymous and 
pseudonymous works and works made for hire, the term will be 95 years 
from the year of first publication or 120 years from the year of 
creation, whichever expires first.

What about Fair Use? Under the fair use doctrine of the U.S. copyright 
statute, it is permissible to use limited portions of a work including: 
quotes, for purposes such as commentary, criticism, news reporting or 
scholarly reports. There are no legal rules permitting the use of a 
specific number of words, a certain number of musical notes, or 
percentages of a work. Whether a particular use qualifies as fair use 
depends on all the circumstances.

The distinction between “fair use” and infringement may be unclear and 
not easily defined. There is no specific number of words, lines, or 
notes that may safely be taken without permission. Acknowledging the 
source of the copyrighted material does not substitute for obtaining 
permission.

The 1961 Report of the Register of Copyrights on the General Revision 
of the U.S. Copyright Law cites examples of activities that courts have 
regarded as fair use: “quotation of excerpts in a review or criticism 
for purposes of illustration or comment; quotation of short passages in 
a scholarly or technical work, for illustration or clarification of the 
author’s observations; use in a parody of some of the content of the 
work parodied; summary of an address or article, with brief quotations, 
in a news report; reproduction by a library of a portion of a work to 
replace part of a damaged copy; reproduction by a teacher or student of 
a small part of a work to illustrate a lesson; reproduction of a work 
in legislative or judicial proceedings or reports; incidental and 
fortuitous reproduction, in a newsreel or broadcast, of a work located 
in the scene of an event being reported.”

What is a copyright notice? A copyright notice is an identifier placed 
on copies of the work to inform the world of copyright ownership. While 
use of a copyright notice was once required as a condition of copyright 
protection, it is now optional. Use of the notice is the responsibility 
of the copyright owner and does not require advance permission from, or 
registration with, the Copyright Office.

Do I have to register with the Copyright Office to be protected? No. 
However, you will have to register if you with to bring a lawsuit for 
infringement of a U.S. work.

If protection is automatic, why register?
To have the facts of your copyright on the public record
To have a certificate of registration
Registered works may be eligible for statutory damages and attorney’s 
fees in a successful litigation
If a work that is not registered is infringed, only actual damages may 
be recovered
If a work is registered within 5 years of publication, it is considered 
prima facie evidence in a court of law


The bottom line is this: if you don't have written permission from the 
copyright holder, or if the copyright holder has not been dead for 70 
years (for works created after 1978), you may not use their work for 
any purpose except those listed in the fair use section of copyright 
law. To use someone else's work that is currently under copyright 
without their permission is STEALING. Not sort of, not kind of, it's 
stealing plain and simple.

By the way, that 15% change in someone else's work you mentioned is 
nothing but an urban legend. If you make changes in someone else's work 
- no matter how little or how much - and then use that work you are in 
violation of U.S. copyright law and are infringing the author's 
copyright. Get permission or stick to the uses allowed under fair use.

You may notice I have rather strong feelings on this subject (or why 
would I have spent the time writing this). As a graphic designer 
mundanely I have had other steal my work and present it as their own -  
it has also happened to me twice within the S.C.A.

________________________

H.L. Barat FitzWalter Reynolds
M.K.A. Stephen Pursley
Barony of Namron
Kingdom of Ansteorra

On Oct 20, 2004, at 10:54 PM, Phelippe Descors wrote:

> In a nutshell: if you publish something and it has a general copyright 
> (IE: only states "Copywrite: Jane Doe, 2004") and you give credit to 
> the origional owner without permision you might get in trouble.  
> Depends on the copywrite holder and if you are making a profit off of 
> it.  If it has something to the like of "No duplications without 
> expressed permission....." or similar wording then don't do anything 
> with it until you meet the criteia that the copyright warning states.
>
> Now I really can't say anything about filking copyrighted material.  
> Though I do know that you must change something like 15% of the 
> material, like keeping the same music but changing the lyrics.  FYI, 
> Wierd Al Yankovic has songs out there that he asked to make parodies 
> of and the origional songwriters said no and he was able to get away 
> with it anyway due to the amount of changes he made to them.
>
>    Phelippe
>
> L T wrote:
>
>> It is amazing how quickly you can infringe a copyright and get in 
>> legal trouble for it (from what I understand someone sued the Girl 
>> Scouts for copying sheet music for around the fire 
>> sing-a-longs)...just the act of filking something can open up a can 
>> of worms...
>> Will anyone who is in the know...please...give us a rundown on how to 
>> keep OUT of trouble copyrightwise while still sharing music.
>> Lorraine DeerSlayer
>>
>> "C. L. Ward" <gunnora at vikinganswerlady.com> wrote:
>> Mahee reports:
>>
>>> Sadly that is not their belief up here
>>> in AnTir. One can find it for sale at
>>> events in both CD and Text form.
>>>
>>
>> Even more sadly, that would be theft, as Master Ivar Battleskald
>> owns the copyright and has the sole right to determine how the
>> work may be distributed. Unless Ivar has specifically authorized
>> people to sell or record it, they're stealing from him by
>> violating his copyright.
>>
>> ::GUNNVOR::
>>
>
>
> -- 
> Lord Phelippe Descors
> Company of the Fray
> http://fray.i8.com
>
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