Thread: Cover Music on our web page

I have my music on the website. And i have redone some christmas songs.(covers). Are we allowed to have these playing on our website? Or are their any copyright laws?
Does anyone know?
Thank you for your time

paul

You shouldn't have any trouble with what you are doing. As long as you got the music the legal way.

.. are you editing the music though? If yes, not sure.

Originally Posted by fnt

I have my music on the website. And i have redone some christmas songs.(covers). Are we allowed to have these playing on our website? Or are their any copyright laws?
Does anyone know?
Thank you for your time

paul

Paul, I am in a band myself, and have looked into this legal issue before. When placing Covers on a website, you need to keep the clips to no more than 30 seconds per song, this way, you can have as many 30 second clips as you like. There are licenses that you can buy depending on the amount of clips and length over the 30 seconds that you want to use, and this can be as little as $100.00 per year up to a full Broadcasting licence like a radio and T.V. station use. I am in Australia, and got this information from APRA, I suggest you contact the copyright authority in the country that you live in for the laws and pricing appropriate to you. Don't get caught out, there is really heavy fines if they catch you.

Hope this helps.
Regards,
Mandy

Hello Paul,

No problem about Christmas songs I play in my new
Christmas page 12 songs here

Regards,

Zlatko

If the music is your legal property - in other words, you created it, then yes you can have them on your site and play if you like in the background. Otherwise, it is an infringement on the on the legal property of another.

This is why Voda Host does not allow mp3's on the servers (unless of course you comply with the above).

There has been talk of the 30 second snippets and their legality. I am unsure of the current status of that argument.

That is my understanding of it by way of past posts/answers on this forum.

Andy

Thank you all for your time and your messages...
Really Appreciate it,,

aloha
paul

Nice songs, if its your own music why not ? If its not you have to pay rights through you local regulator. I checked mine in the Netherlands Bumra Stemra and found out that because my site is Political I don't have to pay !

Paul's question is in relation to Cover Music not Original Music.


Cover Music : A copy of a song already written by anyone other than yourself. To cover another persons music... hence Cover Music.

Original Music : A song that you personally have written or composed, lyrics or instrumentation, that is totally original and does not copy any other song.


Hope this helps those to understand the term 'Cover Music' that weren't sure.

Regards,
Mandy

Originally Posted by zc290549

Hello Paul,

No problem about Christmas songs I play in my new
Christmas page 12 songs here

Regards,

Zlatko

Hi Zlatko, the Christmas music you are using on your site is in the format of a Midifile. If you bought them from the person that recorded it, you would have paid for the copyright that allows you also to broadcast it... or the person who recorded it may have also put it on the net for free download. But you still must be careful and know what your legal obligation is both to the composer who originally wrote the Christmas Carol, and also to the person who recorded the Midifile who is entitled to what the industry call 'Mechanical Royalties'.

I guess everyone needs to check with the appropriate authorities in the Country they reside in, as to what your responsibilities are.

This below link is to APRA, they are the authority in Australia, and have all the information you need to know. You will also find on the right hand side of this page under the heading 'Music User Resources' a link that lists Christmas Carols and how they can or cannot be used.
http://www.apra.com.au/music-users/default.asp

Regards,
Mandy

its a touchy topic...

I'm not real sure about the 30 second clip idea,
but if you can find out if they are free domain, then
you're ok. A lot of old songs, such as many Christmas
songs are now free domain, unless the author has
re-newed their rights. Do some searches for free domain Christmas music and see if your music shows
up or contact a publisher and have them check on it.

Thanks Mandy for your information regarding APRA and
authority in Australia. This Christmas Carols I play in
my web site it’s legal for me because I am member
company what give these songs for free. You can visit
or join here http://www.bravenet.com and download
what you need for your website.

Regards,

Zlatko

Hi everyone,

I just want to let you know something and add more information:

When you buy a CD in a store, I mean an Original CD, not a copy, not a downloaded ones, you already bought the copyright for display and play, in another way, let say you are a DJ working in a night club, when the federals come to you and asked you to check on your CD cases, ALL THE CDs YOU ARE PLAYING SHOULD BE BOUGHT FROM A GENUINE STORE AND ARE ORIGINAL.

So, in fact, you can put the sound in your web site as long as it's from its original CD, but the think that many don't know is, when you edit the song and cut a loop or add effects or whatever, this goes to a mixing copyright, you should get an agreement from the production company or the artist him/herself to use that mix or remix in public or web or similar.

But, another last thing, don't worry guys, if you want to put a song as a background to your site or just to play it NOT DOWNLOAD IT, you are fine, as long as you are not commercializing on 'em, you are safe, the federals will not bother themselves for small things like this, they are too busy on big cases then your which will cost them a lot, then you will be fined a few dollars.

Originally Posted by zc290549

Thanks Mandy for your information regarding APRA and
authority in Australia. This Christmas Carols I play in
my web site it’s legal for me because I am member
company what give these songs for free. You can visit
or join here http://www.bravenet.com and download
what you need for your website.

Regards,

Zlatko

That's great Zlatko... You're welcome for the info on APRA. It's good that you have found a legal resource, and may come in handy for anyone else on here who would like to use them too.

Regards,
Mandy

Yes... So long we dont have them available for sale or downloading...
great guys..

paul

Great Zlatko, helpfull tip about Bravenet !