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if its original material then I dont see the point but if its backing tracks relating to covers of artists then Im not sure what the legal position is in sharing said tracks.Cheers Frankie



Chord progressions aren't copyrightable. Anything with melody and lyrics are automatically covered under US copyright law. Plus if your backing track has enough "song specific" licks in it, even if it has no melody, it is a copyright violation. How many licks? Depends on the jury.

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I disagree with the statement about no difference between making money and free performances. I can play any song at an open mic (no money involved) if I don't claim it to be my work, or have 20 friends over to my house and play a cd, no money involved, and no copyright violation. Copyrights exist to protect the work from being claimed as someone else's and/or denying compensation to the artist. If I make money from someone else's song I am required to compensate them.



You may disagree, but the law does not.

If you perform a song at an open mic affair, and if the place you are playing does not have an ASCAP license, both you and the venue are in violation of copyright laws. If you sing "Happy Birthday" at a private birthday party, you are in violation of the law.

The copyright laws make no distinction between performance for profit or free. In either case if you perform a copyrighted work, you are breaking the law.

Now the chances that you get caught and prosecuted by singing "Happy Birthday" at your child's 6th birthday party are next to zero, but depending on how popular the place were you are singing something "for free" is, there is a real possibility of legal action.

This is why so many restaurants without an ASCAP license make up their own "Happy Birthday" song instead of singing the more traditional one. They don't want to take even a small chance on a quarter of a million dollar fine and 5 years in prison.

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