|
Log in to post
|
Print Thread |
|
|
|
|
|
Songwriting
|
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 5,434
Veteran
|
OP
Veteran
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 5,434 |
Afternoon folks, I know someone here will know the answer to this  Are there copyright implications with quoting a line from someone else’s song? Totally different melody, but a sentence used in another song. Rest of the lyrics are original. Reason I’m asking is that my songwriting partner sent me back a demo of a new song we are working on, and one line from her lyric is a line used in another song. Very easy to change the lyric if needed, but it’s a cool line and would be nice to use it if we can. Thanks!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Songwriting
|
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 2,292
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 2,292 |
Hey Dave, it's hard to say. Length of the line and how common/uncommon the actual words are, play a lot into it. This may help? The Law
Chad (Hope that makes it easier)
TEMPO TANTRUM: What a lead singer has when they can't stay in time.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Songwriting
|
Joined: May 2019
Posts: 8
Newbie
|
|
Newbie
Joined: May 2019
Posts: 8 |
Many modern artist are doing the same thing, though not sure about the technicalities. They call it sampling.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Songwriting
|
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 10,561
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 10,561 |
Many modern artist are doing the same thing, though not sure about the technicalities. They call it sampling. Sampling has come under much legal scrutiny lately. As with any activity sampling sort of flew under the radar until it reached a high enough level of popularity to be considered successful (feel free to substitute the term money maker for successful). Now many record labels, artists, artist agents and artist estates line up to sue on the grounds of copyright infringement anytime a recording containing non licensed samples even remotely becomes successful. Past recordings containing non licensed samples keep having their day in court over the same issue. There ain't no free ride and few free passes anymore but, if you own the copyright, that's a good thing.
Jim Fogle - 2025 BiaB (1124) RB (1) Ultra+ PAK DAWs: Cakewalk by BandLab (CbB) - Standalone: Zoom MRS-8 Laptop: i3 Win 10, 8GB ram 500GB HDD Desktop: i7 Win 11, 12GB ram 256GB SSD, 4 TB HDD Music at: https://fogle622.wix.com/fogle622-audio-home
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Songwriting
|
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 5,434
Veteran
|
|
OP
Veteran
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 5,434 |
Guys, this has nothing whatsoever to do with sampling! That is not what I was asking about. Thanks for the link HTL, very helpful We have decided to change the lyric in question.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Songwriting
|
Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 2,947
PG Music Staff
|
|
PG Music Staff
Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 2,947 |
These are just my personal thoughts, but you could always talk to a lawyer that specializes in the field. Then you'd know for certain, but there are probably some references online as well. I just don't know how true they would be depending on the source.
Cheers,
Ember
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Songwriting
|
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 10,561
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 10,561 |
Dave,
I'm sorry I went off topic.
I was trying to help KennethSennet understand that from a legal standpoint it most likely dosn't matter if you are copying lyrics or audio samples. As the lawyer noted in the link HearToLearn posted it's still copying.
Again, I apologize.
Jim Fogle - 2025 BiaB (1124) RB (1) Ultra+ PAK DAWs: Cakewalk by BandLab (CbB) - Standalone: Zoom MRS-8 Laptop: i3 Win 10, 8GB ram 500GB HDD Desktop: i7 Win 11, 12GB ram 256GB SSD, 4 TB HDD Music at: https://fogle622.wix.com/fogle622-audio-home
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Songwriting
|
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 5,434
Veteran
|
|
OP
Veteran
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 5,434 |
Absolutely no need to apologize Jim, it’s all good Lyric has already been rewritten, it actually fits the song better than the quote. Thanks everyone for your input!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Songwriting
|
Joined: Aug 2018
Posts: 1,381
Expert
|
|
Expert
Joined: Aug 2018
Posts: 1,381 |
Now I have to know what the line was!!!! If it makes you feel better, I quoted a line from "New York, New York" in that Mr. Jay song and nobody called me out then or now.
Last edited by Tangmo; 05/10/19 04:05 PM.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Songwriting
|
Joined: Sep 2017
Posts: 723
Journeyman
|
|
Journeyman
Joined: Sep 2017
Posts: 723 |
I'm glad Blue Attitude has answered his post to his satisfaction. However, I feel this is a topic of interest to many others for exactly the same question. I know The Rolling Stones was sued for a song as also was Led Zeppelin and Ed Sheerhan. I believe these suits were more for riffs or melodies but I'm sure a judge somewhere could apply it to lyrics of any song that was successful. I also know the Marvin Gay Estate is pretty suit happy if they hear anything that resembles any of Marvin Gay music.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Songwriting
|
Joined: Aug 2018
Posts: 1,381
Expert
|
|
Expert
Joined: Aug 2018
Posts: 1,381 |
From what I could gather, the Ed Sheeran suit was pretty lame. The plaintiffs were trying to argue that the use of a chord progression was infringement. I haven't heard what happened in that suit, but that is draconian. The suit against George Harrison had more merit, but if musical phrases and chord progressions are "copyright-able" then new music is dead.
I think if I had a commercial song with an important passage that was very closely related to another, I'd have my people contact their people and work out something. If my hook was the same lyric as another person's hook and the lyric was "unique" and not everyday speech, then a plaintiff may have a point. If I included somebody else's hook that seemed like a "quotation" then things might be more iffy. Time for people to talk to people. "Hey, my client has a song that pays homage to your client's song "Breaking Wind". We'd like to avoid future issues and are asking your opinion."
Of course, I'd have to talk to my people to see if that was the right advice. And you should talk to your people before you listen to either me or my people.
Carry on.
Last edited by Tangmo; 05/10/19 07:14 PM.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Songwriting
|
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 5,434
Veteran
|
|
OP
Veteran
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 5,434 |
Now I have to know what the line was!!!! LOL! The line was "Summertime, and the living is easy" sung with a totally different melody.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Songwriting
|
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 5,434
Veteran
|
|
OP
Veteran
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 5,434 |
I'm glad Blue Attitude has answered his post to his satisfaction. However, I feel this is a topic of interest to many others for exactly the same question. I know The Rolling Stones was sued for a song as also was Led Zeppelin and Ed Sheerhan. I believe these suits were more for riffs or melodies but I'm sure a judge somewhere could apply it to lyrics of any song that was successful. I also know the Marvin Gay Estate is pretty suit happy if they hear anything that resembles any of Marvin Gay music. Zeppelin was successfully sued by Willie Dixon for a couple of songs, actually settled out of court. In that case it was using his lyrics. In one of the songs, "Bring it on Home", the songwriting credit actually reverted to Dixon. The other song was "Whole Lotta Love". They were also sued by the estate of Randy Wolf (Randy California) for the chord progression and arpeggios used in Stairway to Heaven, identical to a short section of the instrumental "Taurus" by the band "Spirit", however that was unsuccessful.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Songwriting
|
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 19,469
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 19,469 |
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2024
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Songwriting
|
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 19,469
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 19,469 |
Dave,
The line probably would have been OK.
The music was written by George Gershwin who died in 1937 and the lyrics were by DuBose Heyward who died in 1940.
According to Google, the current copyright in the USA is 70 years after the death of the last composer in the case of a joint work (if I understand things correctly). Since 1940 + 70 = 2010, the work is out of copyright. This principle is most likely reflected in trade agreements between other countries.
That said, as Pat Pattison once stated at a seminar I went to too... "Never be afraid to throw out pet lines, there's always something better waiting in the wings that wants to come on stage". I always keep that in mind.
What's interesting about your situation and copyright is that you'd be governed firstly by Canadian laws and Chris's lyrics would be governed by firstly by German laws. I have no idea how that works!
I'm looking forward to hearing the song!
All the best,
Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2024
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Songwriting
|
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 8,464
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 8,464 |
I have a friend that saw four lines of a poem written on a small rock in a gift shop with credit for authorship listed as anon. He used those four lines as lyrics in the second verse of a song. It's obvious the words are from the poem. It's a fairly long poem but the first verse is quite famous and quoted in many different formats. I've always advised to change those lines but he hasn't felt the need to do that. Is it Plagiarism or Inspiration? Here is a posting of the poem and how a funeral service instructs a family can adapt and personalize it for use in a specific funeral. "This is another very popular and flexible poem with words that are easy to adjust, lines can be added or removed, a name could be inserted to make it more personal and all religious references could also be removed if required.""If tears could build a stairway and thoughts a memory lane I'd walk right up to heaven and bring you home again" Funeral Helper But then today, I found this post by Ann Parlett: Poem Author Of course there's the story of Lennon and McCartney setting in front of a framed Victorian circus poster from 1843 that John Lennon purchased from an antique store and transformed the poster wording into song lyrics. This authorship of Lennon/McCartney is similar to me to the unknown author of the poem above. (that would be my defense anyway);) How many songs from the 50's-60's talked of the girl putting on her red dress to party? How many songs say I love you? Every country song today plagiarizes pickup trucks, beer, country girls, acoustic guitars, tractors, guns, riverbanks, country roads, cowboy hats, boots and either George Jones, Merle Haggard or Hank Williams. This topic actually tracks closely my latest non-published project that will likely go as far as my last 10 or so non-published projects but I think it could generate some interesting conversation. I may start a new thread so as to not disrupt this one.
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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Songwriting
|
Joined: Aug 2018
Posts: 1,381
Expert
|
|
Expert
Joined: Aug 2018
Posts: 1,381 |
Now I have to know what the line was!!!! LOL! The line was "Summertime, and the living is easy" sung with a totally different melody. Ok, then. In the legal sense, that may have been "okay" to use for reasons Noel explained above. But that line is too recognizable to "copy" in a creative sense. The only real setting I personally would see that line being other than "copying" is if it were an obvious reference, or should be perceived as an obvious reference--law or no law. Context is key. I think you probably did right to change it, and I'm glad the change works better.
Last edited by Tangmo; 05/11/19 09:10 AM.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Songwriting
|
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 1,944
Expert
|
|
Expert
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 1,944 |
Perhaps I'm wrong but... I think you will only be sued if you make tons of money from a song that has a plagiarism ... The rest of us will be blocked or be asked to remove the offending song.
Jim
†=☮&♥
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Songwriting
|
Joined: Aug 2018
Posts: 1,381
Expert
|
|
Expert
Joined: Aug 2018
Posts: 1,381 |
Jim is correct. You can only be sued for damages. If you caused no loss of revenue for infringing, or did not otherwise damage the value of copyrighted work, what can they "get" out of you? If you've had no revenue, they'd have a hard time proving you deprived them of revenue by infringement. Other damages can be claimed against artists and publishers (including this forum, YouTube, SoundCloud, etc.) that are just not worth the hassle. I'd want my legal team to have as little to do as possible. My greatest financial hope for my music is that some big name act steals enough of my stuff to make suing him a good career move. 
Last edited by Tangmo; 05/11/19 10:37 AM.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Songwriting
|
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 19,469
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 19,469 |
My greatest financial hope for my music is that some big name act steals enough of my stuff to make suing him a good career move. Nice plan! Hope it works out for you
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2024
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.
ChatPG's knowledge base includes the full Band-in-a-Box User Manual and sales information from the website.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Update your Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Windows® Today!
If you’ve already purchased Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Windows®, great news—a new update is now available! This update introduces a handy new feature: a vertical cursor in the Tracks window that shows the current location across all tracks, and more.
Discover everything included in this free update and download it now at https://www.pgmusic.com/support_windowsupdates.htm#1124
Video: Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Windows®: Boot Camp: The AI Lyrics Generator
With Band-in-a-Box 2025® for Windows®, we've introduced an exciting new feature: the AI Lyrics Generator! In this video, Tobin guides you step-by-step on how to make the most of this new tool.
Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Windows®: Boot Camp: The AI Lyrics Generator video.
Check out the forum post for more information.
Video: Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Windows®: Using VST3 Plugins
Band-in-a-Box 2025® for Windows® now includes support for VST3 plugins, bringing even more creative possibilities to your music production. Join Simon as he guides you through the process in this easy-to-follow demonstration!
Video: Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Windows®: Using VST3 Plugins
Join the conversation on our forum.
Video: Band-in-a-Box 2025 for Windows: Using The BB Stem Splitter!
In this video, Tobin provides a crash course on using the new BB Stem Splitter feature included in Band-in-a-Box 2025® for Windows®. During this process he also uses the Audio Chord Wizard (ACW) and the new Equalize Tempo feature.
Video: Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Windows®: Using the BB Stem Splitter
Check out the forum post for some optional Tips & Tricks!
Congrats to Misha (Rustyspoon)…downloaded/installed a full Audiophile 2025!
Breaking News!
We’re thrilled to announce that Rustyspoon has made PG history as the very first person to successfully complete the download and install of the full Band-in-a-Box 2025 Windows Audiophile Edition (with FLAC files)—a whopping 610GB of data!
A big shoutout to Rustyspoon for stepping up to be our test "elf!"
Thank you for your support, Rustyspoon!
Band-in-a-Box 2025 for Windows Videos
With the launch of Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Windows, we're adding new videos to our YouTube channel. We'll also share them here once they are published so you can easily find all the Band-in-a-Box® 2025 and new Add-on videos in one place!
Whether it's a summary of the new features, demonstrations of the 202 new RealTracks, new XPro Styles PAK 8, or Xtra Styles PAKs 18, information on the 2025 49-PAK, or detailed tutorials for other Band-in-a-Box® 2025 features, we have you covered!
Reference this forum post for One-Stop Shopping of our Band-in-a-Box® 2025 Videos - we will be updating this post as more videos are added!
Band-in-a-Box 2025 for Windows is Here!
Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Windows is here, packed with major new features and an incredible collection of available new content! This includes 202 RealTracks (in Sets 449-467), plus 20 bonus Unreleased RealTracks in the 2025 49-PAK. There are new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, “Songs with Vocals” Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 4, two new sets of “RealDrums Stems,” XPro Styles PAK 8, Xtra Styles PAK 19, and more!
Special Offers
Upgrade to Band-in-a-Box® 2025 with savings of up to 50% on most upgrade packages during our special—available until December 31, 2024! Visit our Band-in-a-Box® packages page for all the purchase options available.
2025 Free Bonus PAK & 49-PAK Add-ons
We've packed our Free Bonus PAK & 49-PAK with some incredible Add-ons! The Free Bonus PAK is automatically included with most Band-in-a-Box® for Windows 2025 packages, but for even more Add-ons (including 20 Unreleased RealTracks!) upgrade to the 2025 49-PAK for only $49. You can see the full lists of items in each package, and listen to demos here.
If you have any questions, feel free to connect with us directly—we’re here to help!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Forums65
Topics83,798
Posts761,843
Members39,208
| |
Most Online8,978
Jan 14th, 2025
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dansk
Deutsch - Windows
Español
Français - Windows
Italiano - Windows
Nederlands
Polski
Português
Svenskt
русский
Japanese
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
Korean