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Legality of MIDI music
November 29, 2004 07:07 AM
Can you copyright a piece of music, or just a performance of it - bands cover music in pubs all the time but is this technically legal? I recently got 1000's of ringtones for my mobile phone, which are in conventional .mid format. This got me thinking, if I make athe best version of a current hit in midi, where does that sit legally if I wanted to distribute it in a game?
163
November 29, 2004 07:12 AM
I dunno.. i think there was a legal battle about it. And midi's i think are legal because its not the ACTUAL song, which is why covers would be legal, it wouldn't be the same band playing it or whatever.
You should prolly get the other persons consent if your going to use a piece of music in a game. If its commercial, i doubt its legal.
You should prolly get the other persons consent if your going to use a piece of music in a game. If its commercial, i doubt its legal.
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Looking for video game music? Check out some of my samples at http://www.youtube.c...ser/cminortunes
I'm currently looking to create music for a project, if you are interested e-mail me at cminortunes@gmail.com
Please only message me for hobby projects, I am not looking to create music for anything serious.
Looking for video game music? Check out some of my samples at http://www.youtube.c...ser/cminortunes
I'm currently looking to create music for a project, if you are interested e-mail me at cminortunes@gmail.com
Please only message me for hobby projects, I am not looking to create music for anything serious.
1,065
November 29, 2004 11:00 AM
You can copyright both. Thing is if you sell anything based on something else, someone is going to want some royalities.
Pub bands etc are small fry, and it's up to the venue to make sure they have the right licence to play music publically.
Pub bands etc are small fry, and it's up to the venue to make sure they have the right licence to play music publically.
Anything posted is personal opinion which does not in anyway reflect or represent my employer. Any code and opinion is expressed “as is” and used at your own risk – it does not constitute a legal relationship of any kind.
November 29, 2004 02:50 PM
The music is copyright (unless it is an old classical tune that is now out of copyright). Creating a copy of that (in midi) would be breach of copyright and so would selling it.
Covers are legal because the creator of the cover pays a royalty to the copyright owner and NOT because it isn't "the actual song".
Covers are legal because the creator of the cover pays a royalty to the copyright owner and NOT because it isn't "the actual song".
Dan Marchant - Business Development Consultant
www.obscure.co.uk
www.obscure.co.uk
2,354
November 29, 2004 02:53 PM
Legally, MIDI files have been ruled to be recordings and not sheet-music (even though they've got attributes of each), so copyrights that apply to sound recordings apply to MIDI files.
That's important because recordings and MIDI files have very different copyright laws applied to 'em. American copyright laws are a mess.
Disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer.
That's important because recordings and MIDI files have very different copyright laws applied to 'em. American copyright laws are a mess.
Disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer.
(my byline from the Gamedev Collection series, which I co-edited) John Hattan has been working steadily in the casual game-space since the TRS-80 days and professionally since 1990. After seeing his small-format games turned down for what turned out to be Tandy's last PC release, he took them independent, eventually releasing them as several discount game-packs through a couple of publishers. The packs are actually still available on store-shelves, although you'll need a keen eye to find them nowadays. He continues to work in the casual game-space as an independent developer, largely working on games in Flash for his website, The Code Zone (www.thecodezone.com). His current scheme is to distribute his games virally on various web-portals and widget platforms. In addition, John writes weekly product reviews and blogs (over ten years old) for www.gamedev.net from his home office where he lives with his wife and daughter in their home in the woods near Lake Grapevine in Texas.
November 30, 2004 12:13 AM
Quote:That doesn't appear to make any sense. You say they have the same law applied, then in the next sentence say they have different laws. Which is it?
Original post by johnhattan
Legally, MIDI files have been ruled to be recordings and not sheet-music (even though they've got attributes of each), so copyrights that apply to sound recordings apply to MIDI files.
That's important because recordings and MIDI files have very different copyright laws applied to 'em. American copyright laws are a mess.
Disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer.
Dan Marchant - Business Development Consultant
www.obscure.co.uk
www.obscure.co.uk
November 30, 2004 12:34 AM
IANAL, but as far as I know, in the US, MIDIs are considered a recording of a rendition of a song, (the song which may or may not have copyright), and are covered under the same laws as other recordings of renditions of copyright material, if the song is under copywrite; however, MIDIs fall under different copywrite laws for the actual rendition, which while they largely mandate the same thing as sound recordings, differ in the existing case law. If that sentence doesn't make any sense, welcome to American copyright law.
1,065
November 30, 2004 02:42 AM
(OP is from the UK by profile location shown next to name, though I expect copyright laws are similar between the US and UK)
Anything posted is personal opinion which does not in anyway reflect or represent my employer. Any code and opinion is expressed “as is” and used at your own risk – it does not constitute a legal relationship of any kind.
November 30, 2004 08:16 AM
Quote:
Original post by SiCrane
IANAL, but as far as I know, in the US, MIDIs are considered a recording of a rendition of a song, (the song which may or may not have copyright), and are covered under the same laws as other recordings of renditions of copyright material,......
OK I see what he meant. The composition is protected by copyright from the time it was completed until that copyright expires. Any recording of that composition would itself be protected by a separate copyright from the time of its creation. So, while the composition of a piece of old classical music may be out of copyright a modern recording of the piece would still be protected.
Dan Marchant - Business Development Consultant
www.obscure.co.uk
www.obscure.co.uk
1,065
November 30, 2004 08:30 AM
Quote:
Original post by Obscure Quote:
Original post by SiCrane
IANAL, but as far as I know, in the US, MIDIs are considered a recording of a rendition of a song, (the song which may or may not have copyright), and are covered under the same laws as other recordings of renditions of copyright material,......
OK I see what he meant. The composition is protected by copyright from the time it was completed until that copyright expires. Any recording of that composition would itself be protected by a separate copyright from the time of its creation. So, while the composition of a piece of old classical music may be out of copyright a modern recording of the piece would still be protected.
Yeah, that's why Elite could use all that classical music without worrying. The music was it's own performance, but it was performing something that copyright had run out on.
Anything posted is personal opinion which does not in anyway reflect or represent my employer. Any code and opinion is expressed “as is” and used at your own risk – it does not constitute a legal relationship of any kind.
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