Facebooks bizarre copyright policy.

D

DavidN1978

Experienced
Like so many of you out there I love to rock out to songs that are copyrighted.
A majority of my covers I can upload without problem but as of late I'm getting more and more copyright warnings.
I was just wondering what determines if a video of a cover song is allowed to be uploaded / if you're hit with a cease and desist notice with the " we'll your account if you keep this up ! "
I'm not here to question the copyright system itself - just wondering what the criteria is so I can get back to making cover song / solo videos without the worry of having my account shut down.
Plenty of copyrighted material being uploaded on there 24/7 that seems to stay without problem.
If anyone can shed any light on this I'd be grateful. If not I'll just have to go with my current assumption that it's completely random and follows no logic ;)
 
Warning - I'm a trademark/copyright lawyer, so take this with a pile of salt.

At least in the US, if you publicly perform a song, i.e., post it on Facebook, you owe the songwriter a public performance royalty, usually collected by ASCAP or BMI. By recording a version of the song, you also owe a "mechanical royalty". Additionally, since these songs are copyrighted and you don't technically have permission to post them, the copyright holder may send Facebook, You-tube etc a "take-down" notice. In my experience, sometimes, You-Tube or Facebook may take matters into their own hands, so you are correct that these polices are enforced randomly. Until Congress or the free-market figure out the economics of the digital world, there will be, unfortunately, a lot of inconsistencies.
 
Adinfinitum said:
At least in the US, if you publicly perform a song, ..."
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Always was curious on that - does "publicly perform" include live, like a band doing covers in a club? I know at our church they track and pay royalty on all of the songs we perform, and didn't know if that was because they were posting the words on the screens, because it is performed live or what...
 
I have had mine taken down from both YouTube and SoundCloud most recently......

What I try to do most times is never use the original music when posting a cover song. I always try and use a backing track that is not the original artists track (just a cover song backing track). Most times when you post videos while you are 'playing' along with the original music (high quality that is) they will rip it down pretty quick.

Im not really sure of the legal issues that Adinfinitum knows well..... but not sure if it is mainly in regards to the original artists music....or if it makes a difference that it is a cover song (free guitar backing track with vocals) of the artist song?

Curious....I understand both views of the issue. Being a musician, I would be concerned with others using my music for their own profit etc..... but, if I saw other musicians using it in a manner to which they were 'learning' the music (non profit) and not trying to benefit from the usage....then I think I would be flattered rather than angry. ;)
 
I uploaded some vids of my band doing 5 cover songs from a club that pays their ASCAP/BMI fees (for our critique). They are marked as private.
Nothing is from the original versions other than structure and lyrics. All tracks / playing is done by the me or the band.
YouTube has flagged 4 of the 5 as infringing.
 
zionplayer said:
Always was curious on that - does "publicly perform" include live, like a band doing covers in a club? I know at our church they track and pay royalty on all of the songs we perform, and didn't know if that was because they were posting the words on the screens, because it is performed live or what...
Click to expand...

Yes, whether you are playing the "record" like a DJ or playing the song live, that is a "public performance." The club usually pays a blanket license to ASCAP and BMI.
 
LittleWiggler said:
I uploaded some vids of my band doing 5 cover songs from a club that pays their ASCAP/BMI fees (for our critique). They are marked as private.
Nothing is from the original versions other than structure and lyrics. All tracks / playing is done by the me or the band.
YouTube has flagged 4 of the 5 as infringing.
Click to expand...

When you played the song's live, they were covered by the Club's blanket license. By recording the performance and then posting it on You-Tube, you are violating the songwriter's copyright since you don't have permission to record it on to video (that's called a synchronization right).
 
Note - There are some "fair-use" exceptions to copyright including some uses for educational purposes. But they are limited. A College Professor can't photocopy a book and distribute it to the class just because its for "education". And yes, those TAB and Lyrics sites are most likely violating copyright (exclusive rights to make printed versions of the song). Likewise, many of the videos teaching people how to play songs are technically copyright infringements. It's just that the copyright owner (a) doesn't know about them or (b) doesn't care or (c) does care but it will cost them time and effort to take it down.

I won't opine on the legality of posting a video of a copyrighted song in connection with demoing certain guitar products.
 
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