jtees Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 I'm in a unique situation where I've remixed a track in which the original recording and melody has fallen into public domain. (Australian Laws) However as the lyrics to the track were written 30 odd years later by somebody else who died much later, the lyrics are still protected by copyright law. I have now had radio interest so I want to go back to the track and get passed this problem. I was thinking of chopping up each word and reversing the audio. Do you think this is a solution? Thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Nahmani Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 I was thinking of chopping up each word and reversing the audio. Do you think this is a solution? Thoughts? Not really: you may get away with avoiding the publishing rights, but you'd still have to pay mechanical royalties. How did you get the track in the first place? Do you know what record label released it? Can you contact them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtees Posted October 20, 2011 Author Share Posted October 20, 2011 I ripped the track from a cd. It's an original recording of Teddybears Picnic from 1932. In Australia an audio recording looses its copyright after 50 years. Lyrics and melody expire 70 years after writer's death. I'm pretty sure the label is EMI but i'm not sure how to contact them or what to say. I'm not sure how or what mechanical royalties are... Think I've got a bit more reading to do. I contacted a free legal advise agency a while ago about the track and they basicly told me what I said in my first post minus the reversing audio part Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Nahmani Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 I'm not sure whether you're asking what you think you can get away with even if it's not legal, or how to do things legally. (if it was perfectly legal surely you wouldn't have to chop up anything?) Mechanical royalties are due to to the producer, record label, performers etc... for the work they put into making the record. Publishing is due to the composer for writing the music/lyrics. I'm pretty sure the label is EMI but i'm not sure how to contact them or what to say. You find their contact online and you ask them the exact questions you're asking us here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtees Posted October 20, 2011 Author Share Posted October 20, 2011 Basically I'd like the remix I made to legally be played on Australian radio. I'm not trying to make money off this or sell it in any way so I don't think it's worth chasing the record labels. I found, and read through a great pdf I found on Australian copyright duration and it appears everything should be fine as long as it doesnt include a "significant amount of the original lyrics. I'm not even going to attempt to getting it cleared internationally as the laws are complicated enough to understand and differ quiet dramatically, especially the copyright of an actual sound recording. do you think simply reversing the audio so for example the word "woods" is now pronounced "sdoow" ect ect is enough of a change? Here is the pdf if anybody else would like to have a read and share your thoughts http://www.copyright.org.au/admin/cms-acc1/_images/9381523284d549deb0924a.pdf Thanks for the help. Much appreciated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Nahmani Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 Basically I think there are two approaches with copyrights: 1) Contact the copyright owner and ask to purchase a license. 2) Don't contact the copyright owner and take the risk of having him sue you. AFAIK reversing the words, or the fact that you're not trying to make money out of it, don't change anything. If the copyright owner can recognize his work, he has a right to go after you. Major labels pay experts to spend their day listening to the radio, checking every single sample of every single song the radios air. Those guys are truly incredible at what they do, and they can recognize the shortest sample, reversed, mangled, distorted, pitched and ring-shifted. I'm not an expert at all of this though, even less in Australia, so you better ask someone more qualified before making your decision. Best of luck in this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruari Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 Be very, very, very careful when using other peoples work. Even if you think the track is the most obscure thing in the world chances are someone will recognize it, even if you ask the guy who wrote it you still might not be properly covered. Djuma Soundsystem have recently had a long running case go against them, those 10 seconds have cost them a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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