Brandon Zickefoose's List: OAA - Legal Case

• Reproducing 30 Second Clips of Music is Not Fair Use
   U.S. v. American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers, --- F.Supp.2d ----, 2009 WL 484449 (S.D.N.Y.,2009).
• Ringtones have recently become a fashion statement as consumers want to have the latest and greatest hits play as their friends and family call them. Additionally where callers used to hear the sound of a phone ringing as they waited for someone to pick up, ringback tones can instead play a song. AT&T set up online and mobile stores to sell ringtones and ringback tones, but they included the ability to preview these songs without seeking appropriate licensing to commercially use these tracks. The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) and Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) both came to the defense of the artists by arguing that this usage is completely commercial and exists to increase AT&T's sales. In these storefronts, AT&T promoted other products alongside the work of musicians. ASCAP also pointed out that dozens of other organizations already license these same exact previews, and that AT&T merely did not want to compensate artists in ways that everyone else already does.
• In a classic fair use analysis, a New York court stood by the artists, realizing that this usage was merely to facilitate the sales of AT&T's own products. The court acknowledged the creative energies it takes to produce our industry's music, and that AT&T's usage typically exploited the melody or chorus, which is often the most interesting and entertaining portion a song. Finally, the court acknowledged that it is customary in the music industry to compensate the artists, publishers, for the right to play these previews, and because this market exists, this kind of unlicensed use really is not fair to artists. The National Music Publishers Association appreciates the efforts of ASCAP and BMI to protect the core of our industry -- the artists.

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• Source:

  Musician. Feb89, p12. 4p. 1 Illustration.

  Document Type:

  Article

  People:

  FOGERTY, John
• Discusses Fantasy Records' suit against John Fogerty and his current label, Warner Brothers, for copyright-infringement, in which Fantasy claims Fogerty's comeback song of 1985, `The Old Man Down the Road,' copied Fogerty's 1970 hit with Creedence Clearwater Revival, `Run Through the Jungle.' A jury found Fogerty not guilty.

• Reports on the denial of defendant John Fogerty's application for attorney's fees by the lower courts in a copyright infringement suit brought by Fantasy Records, in which Fogerty emerged as the winner. Fantasy's allegations that Fogerty's 1985 song `The Old Man Down the Road' under Warner Brothers was a rewrite of his 1970 song `Run Through the Jungle' under Fantasy; Decision of the Supreme Court.

• TRIALS (Law)

  Company/Entity:

  FANTASY Records (Company) -- Trials, litigation, etc.

  People:

  FOGERTY, John -- Trials, litigation, etc.

• What does Royalty Free mean?

   

  To help you understand what it is, the first thing is to look at the problems and then avoid them. As a songwriter or music producer using music without the proper clearance is very risky. The chances of ending up in legal trouble regarding copyright infringement brings with it hassle and expense.

   

  For example, as you are creating your song you decide to use a sound sample from a well know song as part of the music. In order to use that sound sample you need to get permission from the copyright owner. They have the option of granting permission to use it or they can deny the use. If they do allow you to use they will issue a license that will allow you to use the sample.
• This can take a lot of time and money to get done. On top of that you will have to pay a “per use” fee. This means that if the sound sample is used 3 times in your production you pay 3 times. If your song gets played on the radio you will also have to pay 3 times also. To get around this Royal Free Music libraries provide music samples and loops with a “pre-license”. This method gives you permission to use the sample as many times as you want and not pay additional fees.

• Reduce Legal Issues

   

  Royalty Free Samples and Loops is a fast and simple method to get high quality sounds for any song production. You have reassurance that this type of licensing will eliminate a lot of legal issues. This is a common way that many music professional use in their song production. Licensing sound samples using this method is inexpensive. Gone are the days of cheap sounding stock music. Take some time to search the library and you will find some amazing material for your production.

   

  Loopmasters is one company that provides quality samples and loops that is 100% Royalty Free. And they have a huge selection covering several music genres.

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• The FM office was alive with debate this morning as it surfaced that both the drum loop and the main riff from the club-classic Faxing Berlin by Deadmau5 are available as loops in FL Studio 8. Not only that, but a little-known artist is currently being struck down by the wrath of the law for using the loop (which he assumed was Royalty-free and claims to have used not knowing it was Deadmau5's riff) in a recent release.
  

  
  Both the drum loop and the chords from the track, available under Melody Loops Pack in the browser and called LP_Faxing Berlin A_128bpm.ogg and LP_Faxing Berlin C_128bpm.ogg, are embedded within a host of other loops which Image Line are now claiming are not royalty-free after all and only the one-shots that come with FL are available for commercial use.