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Just wondering about the legalities of chord sheets (lead sheets - and Fake Books, for that matter) and copyright infringement. Apparently, it's legal to create but not to share (at least not by posting on a public forum, I guess) BIAB-generated cover tunes.
Really? Even if they are only rhythm section backing tracks (bass & drums only) with no melody at all? Should they be shared instead by email with Tor? Or perhaps by regular mail in a plain manila envelope?
I'd love to be able to share (as in give away) my BIAB cover tunes with others who might find them useful. They might even improve them with more accurate or alternative chords/drums/bass lines/original MIDI solos - and pass them on. But I guess I/we can't do this. If so, it seems awfully strange to me (and dare I say, us?)
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Stand by, Cyan. I think you'll be pleased at some wisdom to follow.
Richard
"My primary musical instrument is the personal computer."
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Cyan, like Richard mentioned you will be pleased with most answers. Please have a look at this information from PG Music FAQ's
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
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Here's something you might like to look through, too. http://www.tunecore.com/guides/sixrightsIt's a useful guide.
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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That guide is straight forward and easy to understand. Great. Thank you for shareing.
Desktop; i7-2600k, 8 GB mem., Win 10 Pro, BIAB 2017; RB 2017 - latest build
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From how you described it, no problem Cyan. Just chord changes alone are no problem. It's melodies and certain song specific licks that you can't share. My favorite example of that is the guitar lick to Satisfaction. A strong lick like that is copywritten and you can't post it.
You could create your own arrangement of Fly Me To The Moon if you wanted to, put in some horns, chord subs, change tempo, modulate it, create a killer solo, all of that stuff just don't include the original melody.
Bob
Biab/RB latest build, Win 11 Pro, Ryzen 5 5600 G, 512 Gig SSD, 16 Gigs Ram, Steinberg UR22 MkII, Roland Sonic Cell, Kurzweil PC3, Hammond SK1, Korg PA3XPro, Garritan JABB, Hypercanvas, Sampletank 3, more.
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Just wondering about the legalities of chord sheets (lead sheets - and Fake Books, for that matter) and copyright infringement. Apparently, it's legal to create but not to share (at least not by posting on a public forum, I guess) BIAB-generated cover tunes.
Really? Even if they are only rhythm section backing tracks (bass & drums only) with no melody at all? Should they be shared instead by email with Tor? Or perhaps by regular mail in a plain manila envelope?
I'd love to be able to share (as in give away) my BIAB cover tunes with others who might find them useful. They might even improve them with more accurate or alternative chords/drums/bass lines/original MIDI solos - and pass them on. But I guess I/we can't do this. If so, it seems awfully strange to me (and dare I say, us?) It's easy. Get the license and give it away to your heart's content. Otherwise, you are correct. You can't legally do that. If the song is copyrighted by someone else, you MUST obtain the copyright holder's written permission to do anything with it publicly. If you want to write down the chords and share that, you will need to get the copyright holders permission because you don't want to say "This is the chord chart to...such and such a song." and include the title. Chord progressions are not copyright-able nor are titles. However, reproducing a chord chart for a specific song that is copyrighted is crossing that thin line, melody and lyrics or not. It doesn't matter if you think what you did is an off the wall arrangement or a huge improvement to the original song.... you still have copyright infringement if you don't do it the right way. The legal way. You can do what you want for yourself without worrying about the copyright. However, once you consider making that available to the public and friends, whether it's for financial gain or whether it's completely free, requires you to get the proper licenses. Contact the Harry Fox Agency http://www.harryfox.com/ and they can help you figure out which way to go. And it will be legal. Hope that helps.
Last edited by Guitarhacker; 12/22/15 09:58 AM.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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As an aside, artists can copyright their interpretation of a public domain song and they receive all of the rights mentioned and alluded to here for that version of the song. There are many PD songs that hundreds if not thousands of artists have recorded. I doubt many folks have been called out for recording another's version of a PD tune but it could happen. What irritates me are the artists who use PD songs and don't credit or even mention the writer if known.
Pardon the aside, not trying to hijack the thread.
J&B
Our albums and singles are on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Pandora and more. If interested search on Janice Merritt. Thanks! Our Videos
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As Herb points out, there's a grey line...
While chord progressions and titles are not copyrightable, if a backing track is created and the sales of this backing track ride the wave of a copyright song's popularity, then it could certainly be argued that marketing such a backing is the consequence of copyright music.
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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As Herb points out, there's a grey line...
While chord progressions and titles are not copyrightable, if a backing track is created and the sales of this backing track ride the wave of a copyright song's popularity, then it could certainly be argued that marketing such a backing is the consequence of copyright music.
Think My Sweet Lord / He's So Fine And of course, there's others...
BIAB & RB2026 Win.(Audiophile), Windows 10 Pro & Windows 11, Cakewalk Bandlab, Izotope Prod.Bundle, Roland RD-1000, Synthogy Ivory, Session Keys Grand S & Electric R, Kontakt, Focusrite 18i20, KetronSD2, NS40M, Pioneer Active Monitors.
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As Herb points out, there's a grey line...
While chord progressions and titles are not copyrightable, if a backing track is created and the sales of this backing track ride the wave of a copyright song's popularity, then it could certainly be argued that marketing such a backing is the consequence of copyright music.
That's why they have judges, juries, and music law attorneys. They will help you figure it all out, and often in a very unsatisfactory way.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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That's why they have judges, juries, and music law attorneys. They will help you figure it all out, and often in a very unsatisfactory way. It may help if you know at least one older piece of music with the same chord progression. It may help more, if this piece of music enjoyed some success.
Desktop; i7-2600k, 8 GB mem., Win 10 Pro, BIAB 2017; RB 2017 - latest build
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The best bet is advice from a legal professional versed in copyright law. It's no guarantee that you won't get sued, but if you do, it will show you thought you were doing the right thing and that should limit your liability.
Just my $0.02
Insights and incites by Notes
Bob "Notes" Norton  Norton Music
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The lawsuit didn't revolve around the chord progression: Nevertheless, it is clear that My Sweet Lord is the very same song as He's So Fine with different words, and Harrison had access to He's So Fine.
-- David Cuny My virtual singer development blogVocal control, you say. Never heard of it. Is that some kind of ProTools thing?BiaB 2025 | Windows 11 | Reaper | Way too many VSTis.
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The best bet is advice from a legal professional versed in copyright law. It's no guarantee that you won't get sued, but if you do, it will show you thought you were doing the right thing and that should limit your liability.
Just my $0.02
Insights and incites by Notes Intent doesn't matter except in Supreme Court arguments. Try telling the traffic cop that you really didn't intend to be going 80mph in a 55mph speed zone and see where that gets you. The BEST bet for this situation is to PURCHASE the license to do what he wants to do. And if he can't afford to do that, he doesn't need to do it. I'll wager that the proper license is much much cheaper than a lawyers consultation fee when he would need to respond to a lawsuit. Copyright lawsuits are very expensive propositions.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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The BEST bet for this situation is to PURCHASE the license to do what he wants to do. And if he can't afford to do that, he doesn't need to do it. I agree 100%! Bottom line is...if you are going to use someone else's work you need to compensate them. And you need to do it per the established laws. Whether you like them or agree with them or not! If you do not want to pay then you need to write your own songs and then you can do whatever you want with them!
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Herb, you need to watch Judge Judy more often.
"Intent doesn't matter except in Supreme Court arguments.
Try telling the traffic cop that you really didn't intend to be going 80 mph in a 55 mph speed zone and see where that gets you. "
Intent or a point of law will nearly always be the argument you will present. The traffic cop in your example stopped you on a point of law, not intent. If you are indeed ticketed, you will either argue intent or a point of law in court. Officers are granted a certain amount of leeway in the execution of their duties and traffic stop outcomes can also be affected by local and department regulations. If you are able to talk your way out of a ticket with the traffic officer, it will be based on intent and not a point of law. The traffic officer will most always defer point of law issues to the court unless there is an obvious point of law oversight you can point out such that you were actually traveling in a 85 mph speed zone at the place you were stopped. If your case gets all the way to the Supreme Court, it will be due to the inability of all parties to reach an agreement of your intent, or a case law situation in the lower courts.
BIAB 2025:RB 2025, Latest builds: Dell Optiplex 7040 Desktop; Windows-10-64 bit, Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz CPU and 16 GB Ram Memory.
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Herb, you need to watch Judge Judy more often.
"Intent doesn't matter except in Supreme Court arguments.
Try telling the traffic cop that you really didn't intend to be going 80 mph in a 55 mph speed zone and see where that gets you. "
Intent or a point of law will nearly always be the argument you will present. The traffic cop in your example stopped you on a point of law, not intent. If you are indeed ticketed, you will either argue intent or a point of law in court. Officers are granted a certain amount of leeway in the execution of their duties and traffic stop outcomes can also be affected by local and department regulations. If you are able to talk your way out of a ticket with the traffic officer, it will be based on intent and not a point of law. The traffic officer will most always defer point of law issues to the court unless there is an obvious point of law oversight you can point out such that you were actually traveling in a 85 mph speed zone at the place you were stopped. If your case gets all the way to the Supreme Court, it will be due to the inability of all parties to reach an agreement of your intent, or a case law situation in the lower courts. No... I have better things to do with my time. Nice detailed explanation Charlie and I appreciate the time you put into it.... but in the famous words of some actor in a movie..... "Frankly my dear...." 
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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"Nice detailed explanation Charlie and I appreciate the time you put into it.... but in the famous words of some actor in a movie..... "Frankly my dear...." <Grin> - I thought you probably didn't "frankly give a ..... " but I had the time and inclination to elaborate and didn't think you would be offended if I took the time..... and it seems you're not, so all is well... as, of course, no offense was intended.
Last edited by Charlie Fogle; 12/26/15 03:57 AM.
BIAB 2025:RB 2025, Latest builds: Dell Optiplex 7040 Desktop; Windows-10-64 bit, Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz CPU and 16 GB Ram Memory.
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Normally when I see these threads asking about copyright, my first thought is usually this;
If you are worried about getting caught, you are likely doing something wrong.
Explaining how you intend to argue it shows you are doing it with forethought which doesn't really change the above.
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!
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Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.
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Band-in-a-Box 2026 for Windows Special Offers End Tomorrow (January 15th, 2026) at 11:59 PM PST!
Time really is running out! Save up to 50% on Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows® upgrades and receive a FREE Bonus PAK—only when you order by 11:59 PM PST on Thursday, January 15, 2026!
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