Hi Jed,

Chords are fair game. There's no copyright on the chords used to harmonize any song. If the chords were used to develop a signature riff (that stands outside of simply a chord change), though, copyright could well apply.

Melody and lyrics are fully copyrighted. With something like "Long Way Home". It would be possible to keep the chords the same and the melodic rhythm the same but the melody notes would have to be different to the extent that you created a melodic shape that was quite different from "Long Way Home". Lyrics would also need to be different.

A test would be to play your song and "Long Way Home" as instrumental versions. This would allow you to hear if they were similar or different.

Hope these thoughts help,
Noel


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Audiophile BIAB 2025