Copyright

[njalli]

Can anybody tell me about copyright?

how to get it.

what it does.

does it cost?

[lucylucy]

i don't know sorry lol

[daro]

Can anybody tell me about copyright?

how to get it.

what it does.

does it cost?

The specifics of copyright law vary from country to country, but generally speaking, in most of the civilized world, copyright actually refers to a whole cluster of rights that are conferred on an author or composer once a work is "fixed in a tangible medium", such as being written down or recorded. These rights usually cover things such as distribution, creation of "derivative works", performance etc. This happens automatically, and doesn't cost anything, meaning you don't actually have to do anything for your work to be protected.

However, depending on the circumstances, this automatic copyright is often registered with a government agency; in the U.S., this is handled by the Copyright Office of the Library of Congress, and does cost money. You can find information about copyright in general as well as the registration process, at least as it applies in the U.S., here: https://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/. (If you're not in the U.S., there'll be some similar organization which will provide you all the specifics).

Registration affords certain further protections which can become important, or even necessary if there are legal issues involved. For example, if you enter into a contract with a publisher, registration provides a layer of protection and assurances for all the parties involved. (Registration also enables you to receive higher levels of damages in those extremely rare cases where somebody might be infringing on your rights).

yd

[njalli]

ok thanks.

but if i would post a video of me playing a composition of mine, and someone would steal it and just post it on youtube. or posting it on youtube  after hearing it played on a concert, could i sue that person? for damages allthough he hasnt got any profit from performing it- or posting it on youtube?

[daro]

ok thanks.

but if i would post a video of me playing a composition of mine, and someone would steal it and just post it on youtube. or posting it on youtube  after hearing it played on a concert, could i sue that person? for damages allthough he hasnt got any profit from performing it- or posting it on youtube?

OK, again speaking very generally, the copyright owner has the exclusive right to distribute their work, so if someone is posting your recordings on the web without your permission, then that's an infringement, and there are actions you can take. Probably the simplest would be to write to youtube and request that they remove the video, and this happens every day, though it's only a small dent in the thousands, if not millions, of technically illegal videos on youtube. Whether or not the pirate did it for profit is not strictly relevant, though it might be taken into consideration in determining damages, assuming you could find him and were to go through the extreme hassle of filing a court case, though for that, you need to talk to a lawyer, not just some guy on the internet.

That said, there might be other considerations here; for example, the venue where you perform might have certain rights of their own in recordings made there. Also, if a local TV station or a reviewer posted a short clip, that might be considered a "fair use" and wouldn't necessarily be illegal.

OTOH, many artists look at such bootlegs as cheap promotion, and they don't care about it. Artists have also been using what's called the 'Creative Commons', which provides ways for the artist to formally give the public certain rights to use or distribute their work without incurring any possible penalties.

yd

[njalli]

thank you daro, this was extremely helpfull.