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Songwriting
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Joined: Jul 2019
Posts: 253
Apprentice
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OP
Apprentice
Joined: Jul 2019
Posts: 253 |
I've read numerous threads on these boards where members have expressed concerns about being sued for copyright infringement. In some cases bordering on hand-wringing fear.
While recognizing that we live in a climate where people have become extremely litigious in general, I'd like to point out that the concerns expressed on here, by and large, are pretty unrealistic and unlikely to be a problem.
First of all, let's examine the elements that make up a "successful" infringement case. The plaintiff has to prove that the defendant A) had access to, had heard, or was otherwise aware of the plaintiff's song, and B) that there are substantial musical similarities.
The second part of that is where the overreach has been. These so-called musicologists who are brought in as "expert" witnesses are for the most part hired guns, and will testify in favor of whomever hires them. Obviously, when infringing on a big hit it's pretty easy to prove the first part - the original song is everywhere, and there's the access. Not so easy on an obscure song, with minimal streams/exposure and little to no airplay.
But let's think about this a bit deeper than just "can I get sued" - because clearly, a person can be sued by anyone for just about anything these days.
Where are the damages? If some anonymous person writes a song & releases it on their EP that sells 20 copies and gets 5 or 10 thousand streams, why would I bother suing them? To get $15? That's ridiculous. No one on here is going to get sued by a big artist, publisher, or record label. Even if they were aware of it, they'd probably only respond with a threatening-sounding C&D letter, that in actuality is a bluff that they'd never follow through on.
It costs a minimum....MINIMUM...of $20,000 to litigate an infringement case, and that's basically just to file and get all the documentation in order (musicologist stuff, etc.). If it goes to trial, it can get up in the six figure range virtually immediately. Why on earth would anyone spend that kind of money to sue someone who made a few hundred, or even a few thousand dollars?
I wrote a song in the 90s that was on my album and was also recorded by a country artist named Clay Walker. I was made aware of a business (dance club) that had blatantly ripped off the song and was using it as their jingle (radio/tv commercial music). My publisher on the song was/is Warner/Chappell, one of the biggies. I brought it to their attention, knowing that there was a least a few hundred, if not a few thousand dollars, that myself and my co-writer were entitled to.
They did nothing. I was told, effectively, that it wasn't worth their time to pursue it.
I'm not offering legal advice here, and I am ABSOLUTELY NOT encouraging anyone to infringe on someone else's song...that is morally and ethically wrong, and people who do that intentionally are despicable human beings.
I simply posted this to point out that from a big picture perspective, an accidental infringement on an indy project isn't going to get you sued.
Hope this eases some concerns.
Last edited by Roger Brown; 01/21/21 07:20 AM.
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Songwriting
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Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 11,012
Veteran
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Veteran
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 11,012 |
One of the nice things about so much music being available online is sooner or later you're likely to run across a song performance you heard sometime in your past you've forgotten about. Once you rediscover the performance you realize that performance was the inspiration for a lyric, riff, melody, song arrangement or mix you thought was original. I've rediscovered multiple performances that, as soon as I heard them it was an ah-ha moment for me. I'm slowly discovering most of my creativity is not mine. 
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