WKF2298@RITVAX.ISC.RIT.EDU (Wonko the Sane) (12/18/90)
Without starting a heated debate on copyright laws and not to open myself up to a wide variety of flames, I have a curious question. Some friends and I have been playing with SoundSmith and have produced many wonderful pieces which we'd like to post. No one seems to ever say anything about people who post copyrighted music in the form of a song files. Technically, it would seem that we shouldn't really be posting them. On the other hand. . . putting a song into a computer and distributing it is nothing like copying the CD where the quality is identical, nor is it like copying a disk, for the same reason. The song is more of an arrangement. I don't know many people who sit around their computers, popping in disks to jam to!?!?!? If anything, it is just really for the purpose of saying, "Gee, that was neat!" It certainly doesn't seem like a vagrant blow to the composer or producer in any sense. The quality, in no way, really compares. From that aspect, I really don't personally seem anything wrong with posting them. . . and they are enjoyable to play with. To use my example personally, I have put in some music by a group that I think very highly of (although they are not popular in most realms). The last thing I would want to do is to hurt their situation, etc. But, I would really like to post their music for everyones enjoyment. . . giving them full credit for their piece. . . and strongly urging listeners to consider supporting them by purchasing their tapes. Is their anything wrong with this? If their is not, I would be very happy to post them, if their is, may someone please correct my logic!??!? I'm very open-minded to suggestions, but please do not blow this question into a full-blown battle. . . (may I remind you of the paperclip!) Thanks everyone. William K. Fry wkf2298@ritvax
jb10320@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Desdinova) (12/19/90)
In article <EA203CB8A85FC114B4@ritvax.isc.rit.edu> WKF2298@RITVAX.ISC.RIT.EDU (Wonko the Sane) writes: > [...] > No one seems to ever say anything about people who post copyrighted >music in the form of a song files. Technically, it would seem that we >shouldn't really be posting them. On the other hand. . . putting a song into >a computer and distributing it is nothing like copying the CD where the quality >is identical, nor is it like copying a disk, for the same reason. The song is >more of an arrangement. I don't know many people who sit around their >computers, popping in disks to jam to!?!?!? If anything, it is just really >for the purpose of saying, "Gee, that was neat!" > It certainly doesn't seem like a vagrant blow to the composer or >producer in any sense. The quality, in no way, really compares. From that >aspect, I really don't personally seem anything wrong with posting them. . . >and they are enjoyable to play with. Quality doesn't matter. If you made a terrible copy of an album and gave it to a friend, it's still against the law. But computer music is a different issue. I don't believe any precedents have been set specifically, but here's the situation: Copyrights are only assignable to particular arrangements (for instance a particular recording). The actual flow of the song is not copyrightable. Lyrics are, however, fiercely protected, as this is how "ownership" of a song is enforced. If you did just a computer mix of the song with no lyrics, it should count as a particular arrangement and should be copyrightable by YOU. Of course credit for writing the song must be given to the original authors, and this is also a means of protecting "ownership" and collecting royalties. I'm not totally sure about this. My view is it's not specifically illegal, so as long as it's not immoral to you go ahead and do it. > To use my example personally, I have put in some music by a group >that I think very highly of (although they are not popular in most realms). >The last thing I would want to do is to hurt their situation, etc. But, I >would really like to post their music for everyones enjoyment. . . giving them >full credit for their piece. . . and strongly urging listeners to consider >supporting them by purchasing their tapes. Sounds ok to me. But then I tend to be rather liberal towards copyrights. > Is their anything wrong with this? If their is not, I would be very >happy to post them, if their is, may someone please correct my logic!??!? > William K. Fry -- Jawaid Bazyar | Being is Mathematics Senior/Computer Engineering | Love is Chemistry jb10320@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu | Sex is Physics Apple II Forever! | Babies are engineering