quote:

Originally posted by Maaz I've sorted things out already You copyright the melody and lyrics. Remember the incident between Armin and Picotto. Picotto copied a melody composed by Armin and used it not giving Armin any credits. It means that Picotto was earning profit from Armin's work. It's quite hard to copyright build-ups, because the way I see it, it's just a pause for the drums. Silence is part of music, so it can't be copyrighted. The same goes for the bassline. If you're refering to the synth used, or the structure, it can't be copyrighted because the synth was created by another person and structure is just a part of the melody. If the structure is the same (e.g. lenght, pauses), but the chords and notes are different, the melody changes: it becomes another music.

But does the melody have to be exact? Say i change one note or tone....does the coprywrite not aply then?

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yes because remember when vanilla ice sampled queen...he added a note, but they still made him pay royalties

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pixel8edconcepts.com :: new flash site in the works

quote:

Originally posted by kirbtastic yes because remember when vanilla ice sampled queen...he added a note, but they still made him pay royalties

ok..wonder where the line is drawn then
I guess thats upp to court to decide

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Originally posted by mindshooter ok..wonder where the line is drawn then I guess thats upp to court to decide

The melodies cannot have eight measures in common (they cannot be "similar" either)... that's what happened in Ice MC's case, the melodies were too damn similar

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Indiana Clones Upcoming Sets
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i'm too lazy to read all the replies so pardon me if this has already been said

you can also copyright collections

say for example you are an artist, you can put together a "book" of your drawings and copyright all of them in one shot

you should be able to do the same thing for music, hence only paying the fee once for a number of tracks

and don't forget beats are not copyrightable, only melodies and lyrics/vocals. So you can copyright your track but people can still steal your baseline legally.

I also highly recommend doing the mailing thing just as a backup even if you do copyright something because your copyright may not hold in another country but if you are taken to court and the envelope is opened in front of a judge then you have proof that you had it first.

goodluck!

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bug_bite
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quote:

Originally posted by bug_bite you can also copyright collections

I didn't know that Usually, in electronic music, the same melody is repeated a few times, so I was wondering, if I write the melody of several different tunes down (using scores and stuff) in just a couple of sheets, it could be considered as a collection, right?

quote:

Originally posted by bug_bite and don't forget beats are not copyrightable

Glad to hear that

Just kidding, I'd rather make them myself: it sounds more "unique"

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Indiana Clones Upcoming Sets
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I know a fair bit about copyright as i did a course on music technology and we studied it.

Basically soon as you write something its yours. However because people arnt honest we have to be able to prove that it is ours.
If you send something to yourself you have to get it done recorded with a seal over the envelope. When you get it back you must not open it and keep it in a safe place as things have been stolen.

That way its evidence that you wrote the music before anybody else.
There are other more reliable ways but thats the one most applicalbe to us id imagine.

If something is copyrighted as soon as I write it, what's that government registration for?

And now I'm curious to know what the "other reliable ways" are Could you tell more about it?

its just extra proof to help u in legal matters....people still win copyright cases even if they never officially copyrighted their idea

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pixel8edconcepts.com :: new flash site in the works

In the UK theres a place where you can go and register your work by a goverment body which i imagine is similar to the $17 you have to pay.

You could also get it verified a solictior but the cost would obviously more.

One of the most secure ways however is to take it to bank and put it into a saftey deposit box and leave it. They keep records of when its been opened. But obviously its down to cost.

Its all about proving you wrote it first.

saftey deposit box sounds good to me

but i don't understand how mailing something to yourself proves that you made it or when you received it, therefore proving you had it first, how does that work?

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Originally posted by vito saftey deposit box sounds good to me but i don't understand how mailing something to yourself proves that you made it or when you received it, therefore proving you had it first, how does that work?

the post mark that goes on the envelope is dated.

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pixel8edconcepts.com :: new flash site in the works