Is my song illegal?

[thedude9]

waht if i took a melody from a tutorial and edited it, would that be aloud online? just curious.

-thedude9

[ninjakoopa-33]

Not really sure. If that melody happens to be copyrighted, then that will not be allowed and will result in an audio ban.

If it isn't, then you may use it, though I prefer you not do it.

[thedude9]

well, this is the tutorial i used:

It sounds kind of familiar, but not by much.

[loansindi]

if you didn't write it, why submit it?

[thedude9]

technically i did write it, I took part of the melody, and edited it a bunch. its kind of the same timing, but the notes are pretty much all different.

[Khuskan]

Well, if you've changed all the melody, you're pretty safe, but that doesn't excuse you from using somebody elses work - it's more a moral thing than a legal thing. I doubt the tutorial writer would either care or go to the effort to chase this up, the tutorial was written to help you, after all, but if the extent of your work relies on that of the tutorial, you probably aren't ready to start releasing your own unique music yet.

[thedude9]

At 6/3/09 07:17 AM, Khuskan wrote: Well, if you've changed all the melody, you're pretty safe, but that doesn't excuse you from using somebody elses work - it's more a moral thing than a legal thing. I doubt the tutorial writer would either care or go to the effort to chase this up, the tutorial was written to help you, after all, but if the extent of your work relies on that of the tutorial, you probably aren't ready to start releasing your own unique music yet.

I've written some cool original pieces before, but this one is my first try at hardstyle, so its kind of new to me.

[jarrydn]

At 6/2/09 09:20 PM, loansindi wrote: if you didn't write it, why submit it?

Interesting thing to say when you've submitted a cover song ;)

Anyway, I think I remember reading some stuff about this once upon a time. I don't think individual riffs, melodies or beats can be copyrighted, unless you have alot of money and legal musclepower. Don't take my word for it though, do some reading up on the subject yourself :).

Check out wikipedia's articles on copyright law and see if you can chase down any leads :)

[Khuskan]

At 6/3/09 08:04 AM, jarrydn wrote:

At 6/2/09 09:20 PM, loansindi wrote: if you didn't write it, why submit it?

Interesting thing to say when you've submitted a cover song ;)

Anyway, I think I remember reading some stuff about this once upon a time. I don't think individual riffs, melodies or beats can be copyrighted, unless you have alot of money and legal musclepower. Don't take my word for it though, do some reading up on the subject yourself :).

Check out wikipedia's articles on copyright law and see if you can chase down any leads :)

There have been a lot of high-profile cases of groups and bands suing others over creating music that sounds -similar- to what they've made, often with the courts ruling in their favor, but the problem with that is exactly the definition of high-profile. I doubt a tutorial writer would care if you used his material because he is obviously putting it out there to be of some use to somebody as opposed to declaring 'I created this'.

[RedHatCore]

If you changed it, then you're fine. The guy who wrote the ABCs song didn't get sued by the creator of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star."

The fact that Western (what we call music) music is based on 12 tones makes originality an easy debate for any song written in the Western convention.

In the end, the best judge is you. Ask yourself this: "Is this my song, or his?" Your answer will probably be as good as anybodies.

[ZStriefel]

You're pretty safe. The reason is because you altered it. But If you re-created a recognizable portion of the song, you'll need to get a Mechanical License.
Either way. You should just post stuff that is %100 unique to you. You're always in the right if you do your own stuff.

WHAT YOU CANNOT COPYRIGHT:
Works not "fixed in a tangible medium," Song Titles*, Company Names*, Common
Musical Phrases, Chord Progressions, Ideas, Concepts, Company Slogans*, etc.

in conclusion. I think you're safe.

[Lashmush]

just submit it. we needs us some hardstyle and hardcore shitz.

[Khuskan]

At 6/3/09 11:55 AM, ZStriefel wrote: WHAT YOU CANNOT COPYRIGHT:
Works not "fixed in a tangible medium," Song Titles*, Company Names*, Common
Musical Phrases, Chord Progressions, Ideas, Concepts, Company Slogans*, etc.

You can, to an extent. At least, there have been succesful court cases over songs that sound similar. If plagurism is blatent, you don't always need copyright to back you up.

Another example is producers trying to get free guitar tabs, free sheet music and the like banned. Although they did not produce them, they allow somebody to replicate the ideas of the composer without any credit to doing so.

It's a cold, economically-motivated world.

[Dudidum]

How right you are!