Music License

I also found this one, i hope it clears things up a bit

simaudio said
I also found this one, i hope it clears things up a bit http://audiojungle.net/forums/thread/using-items-on-audiojungle-in-a-songringtone-for-distribution-on-itunes/50044?page=2#461429

Good find simaudio. Definitely throws some more light on the matter, but it’s interesting to see that even 8 months ago, nobody from Envato responded to the matter. I really hope they’re not taking an ‘out of sight, out of mind’ attitude to this issue. I think Scott mentioned in another thread that they’ve got a law person working on on the licenses, so I hope that this is addressed when they come to ours.

AlumoAudio said

simaudio said
I also found this one, i hope it clears things up a bit http://audiojungle.net/forums/thread/using-items-on-audiojungle-in-a-songringtone-for-distribution-on-itunes/50044?page=2#461429

Good find simaudio. Definitely throws some more light on the matter, but it’s interesting to see that even 8 months ago, nobody from Envato responded to the matter. I really hope they’re not taking an ‘out of sight, out of mind’ attitude to this issue. I think Scott mentioned in another thread that they’ve got a law person working on on the licenses, so I hope that this is addressed when they come to ours.

Cheers AlumoAudio, it’s worth looking at the previous post that i made on page 5 of this thread if you haven’t already done so.

simaudio said

AlumoAudio said

simaudio said
I also found this one, i hope it clears things up a bit http://audiojungle.net/forums/thread/using-items-on-audiojungle-in-a-songringtone-for-distribution-on-itunes/50044?page=2#461429

Good find simaudio. Definitely throws some more light on the matter, but it’s interesting to see that even 8 months ago, nobody from Envato responded to the matter. I really hope they’re not taking an ‘out of sight, out of mind’ attitude to this issue. I think Scott mentioned in another thread that they’ve got a law person working on on the licenses, so I hope that this is addressed when they come to ours.

Cheers AlumoAudio, it’s worth looking at the previous post that i made on page 5 of this thread if you haven’t already done so.

Ahhh, thanks Sim, completely missed that!

Art-of-Sound said

soundengine said
You can’t adapt someone else’s work without having a written consent priorly.

For your general knowledge, friend, once a song is publicly released and the original copyright holder has exercised their exclusive right of first publishing, ANY and ALL artists can use, manipulate, tribute, cover and re-make that song. PERIOD . You do NOT have to have the original artist/publisher permission to do so before hand. PERIOD . You just have to acquire a mechanical license if your derivative sells more than 2000 or if you plan to use it commercially regardless of selling it or not. Mechanical license can be obtained through the Harry Fox Agency, for example.

I’m sorry. But this just sounds ludacris to me. In which country would those rules apply again? Even if you’re talking about royalty free music only here, this is just not true. At least in good old Europe it’s not…

Anyway, about Envato and license / legal matters: I had an important question lately regarding licenses and contacted Envato support to make sure I give out the correct answer to a buyer (who had asked me before…).

Here’s what I got back from Envato:

I’m sorry, but unfortunately Envato Support cannot provide advice regarding what licenses should be purchased for legal reasons. We are not qualified to give out legal advice and recommend that you contact a legal professional for assistance if you are unsure which license would be suitable for your needs.

So… though I would hope for some staff member to join in in this jolly discussion to clear things up, I kind of doubt they will after this interesting little experience…

randomnoise said
I’m sorry. But this just sounds ludacris to me. In which country would those rules apply again? Even if you’re talking about royalty free music only here, this is just not true. At least in good old Europe it’s not…

I would hope for some staff member to join in in this jolly discussion to clear things up, I kind of doubt they will after this interesting little experience…

It makes sense. Providing an unambiguous answer is fraught with consequences – the site can lose either customers or artists, so in their place I’d keep it in the gray area.

@simaudio
I appreciate you having done a research, but with all due respect, what you found is just more speculative allegations by users and Scott’s answer refers to reselling tracks as is, like buying them here and reselling on another site.

ANY and ALL artists can use, manipulate, tribute, cover and re-make that song.

Here’s just one example out of thousands.

Eminem took Labi Siffre’s “I got the” and created “My Name Is”.

Art-of-Sound said

ANY and ALL artists can use, manipulate, tribute, cover and re-make that song.

Here’s just one example out of thousands.

Eminem took Labi Siffre’s “I got the” and created “My Name Is”.

Art of Sound,

I believe you are correct in terms of someone getting a compulsory type license to do a cover version of an already existing song. A person can cover another person’s song without their permission. Of course they would still have to pay the copyright owner a set fee based on number of distributions. And it has to be a “cover” version not overly altered.

Your above Eminem example would not be considered a cover version of that song. In that instance Eminem has sampled the track for use into his new “work”. I’m pretty sure that Labi Siffre was compensated greatly for use of that sample in an agreement prior to Eminem recording and releasing the track.

There are a number of cases where artists used someone else’s music without proper agreement or permission and lost their case in court. The Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony” for example was a huge success, unfortunately for them, they used a Rolling Stones stones sample without the copyright owners permission, and sold and distributed mass copies. They lost that case and had to pay back massive royalties to Rolling Stones label.

I agree that the AJ license is cloudy, but if Kysongbird were to use someone’s music and incorporate it into a track and somehow sell thousands of copies of that track without compensating the original owner of the music, most copyright laws would come into play, and kysongbird would probably lose a court case to claim the song entirely as their own.

The Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony” case took place 15 years ago. Things have changed since then. No long drawn out processes now, those are done…

Here’s a post from a label owner posted somewhere else in a relevant discussion:

I have personally and accidentally and permanently learned this with the other group under my label. They had a song on their first album that used a slew of samples from George Lucas films Star Wars. It gained sudden attention once it reached around 5000 single sales on Itunes. I received a letter from George’s attorney wanting to know if I had this mechanical license. I replied that I didn’t but was willing to acquire it and pay tribute to Lucas Arts for sample usage even back to the first sale of said single. George sent me a letter himself thanking me for being honest and that he enjoyed the way they used the samples. To this day, anytime that single sells They are paid before I collect. Since then we have similar agreements with D’Layna Dixon, Tony Lindsay of Santana and others, it’s not that complicated…..