Poll: Music Copyrights.

[Deadonstick]

Hi, I've been wondering for a while now. When is a song considered stolen? The law says you can not reproduce copyrighted music. But when do you reproduce something? When you have the exact same rhythm but different lyrics? When you change 2 notes? Maybe 3? Take Queen & David Bowie's Under Pressure and Vanilla Ice's Ice Ice Baby for example. The intro is pretty much the same. Why didn't they sue each other? And seeing as almost all songs these days have been stolen from other songs and then slightly adjusted. I was wondering. Is there a legal boundry when music is considered to be stolen? Or is such a boundry non-existant and it just depends on what the judge thinks?

 

[SavingPrincess]

Take Queen & David Bowie's Under Pressure and Vanilla Ice's Ice Ice Baby for example. The intro is pretty much the same. Why didn't they sue each other?

They absolutely were going to, but they settled out of court; and it wouldn't be suing "each other" exactly... because Queen actually wrote the bass line. So it would be Queen suing Vanilla Ice.

 

[Sronpop]

Whoops, whats this doing here
<youtube=eb49QuPLuHg>

 

[arsenicCatnip]

Hi, I've been wondering for a while now. When is a song considered stolen? The law says you can not reproduce copyrighted music. But when do you reproduce something? When you have the exact same rhythm but different lyrics? When you change 2 notes? Maybe 3? Take Queen & David Bowie's Under Pressure and Vanilla Ice's Ice Ice Baby for example. The intro is pretty much the same. Why didn't they sue each other? And seeing as almost all songs these days have been stolen from other songs and then slightly adjusted. I was wondering. Is there a legal boundry when music is considered to be stolen? Or is such a boundry non-existant and it just depends on what the judge thinks?

There's a boundary, and samples have to be asked for or it's considered stealing. As I recall, there was something along that line with 'Bittersweet Symphony', but I don't know or remember the details.

 

[child of lileth]

When the rythm is the same. It's like how that rapper (I hope I'm spelling that for a person who raps, and not a person who rapes) recently stole the Death Note music, and then named the album 'Death Note' and used the font and everything. Not stolen at all, I'm sure.

http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2010/05/27/rapper-soulja-boy-rips-off-death-note/

It seems like they do that all the time. I just wish they'd admit they are thieves.

 

[II2]

Good
| to
V
Bad


Negativland - U2 [Actually amusing "Robin Hood" sorta theft / sample collage of the court case.]


Contended Ghostbuster theme plagarism suits:

Just pathetic:

 

[MGlBlaze]

FYI, copyright doesn't stop anyone from making similar things. If either the instrumental part, lyrrical part or both are the same, however, then yes, it would count. Unless the artist has permission from the origonal creator, anyway. I think remixes are also allowed under copyright.

 

[zen5887]

Music is stolen when it isn't payed for. To my knowledge the big thing with Under Pressure was Ice took the bassline, changed one note and claimed it as his own.

You can only copyright melody, lyrics and (I think) the hook. You can't copyright a chord progression or a drumbeat but if the sample comes straight from the sound file you have to pay and credit the original composer.

 

[zehydra]

what about melody? Your poll completely left out melody and harmony, rhythm+lyrics is only a small portion of the song.