Nashville Entertainment/Intellectual Property Attorney-Mechanical Licensing
by Noah McPike on February 15, 2010
in Nashville Law Firm, nashville attorney, nashville lawyer
Nashville Entertainment/Intellectual Property Attorney
US copyright law affords any artist and/or band the right to record their own version (cover) of a previously recorded /published musical piece even if the original owner objects. Such use is known as a compulsory license. Specifically and pursuant to the Act: “A compulsory license includes the privilege of making a musical arrangement of the work to the extent necessary to conform it to the style or manner of interpretation of the performance involved, but the arrangement shall not change the basic melody or fundamental character of the work …”
For example, your brother’s garage band may record and sell a cd covering a Waylon Jennings song, provided that, in the absence of permission from the song’s publisher, your brother complies with the Copyright Office’s instructions for obtaining a compulsory license, and that the cover recording does not change the basic melody or fundamental character of the original work.
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