Will It Be Illegal To Cover Songs?
from the is-that-a-popular-tune-you're-humming? dept
According to this post at LawMeme, over in India, they're debating a bill that would make it illegal to cover a song without express permission from the copyright holder. They're doing this because producers in India will apparently produce cover songs of popular albums, and then sell them at a discount - sometimes (illegally) underreporting units sold for the purpose of paying royalties back to the original artist. Next thing you know, the music industry will start going after garage bands as they try to play some cover tunes. At what point does the ridiculousness stop? Will we have to pay royalties before we're allowed to sing along in the car? Are you daring to hum a song without the recording industry's permission?
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Covers = compulsory licensing
Why is mandatory licensing good for covered songs but not for other things?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Covers = compulsory licensing
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Covers = compulsory licensing
I'd like to know what the rule should be about covering songs. Maybe there's an alternative I've missed.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Covers = compulsory licensing
Why not rely on your ability to make music better? Or admit that others might be able to make your music better.
As an example, look at the story of a bassist who decided to add bass lines to songs by the band the White Stripes. You can also see more about that story in this video.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]