[cc-community] cc licensing of covers of ARR songs?

Ed Pybus ed at slrecords.net
Wed Jan 14 06:46:26 EST 2009


Hi,

I've spoken to MCPS (to be honest I've had different info from their 
helpdesk each time I speak to them) and they say that you are allowed to 
do a cover as long as the recording is released under a MCPS license if 
not you'd need permission of the rights holder.

So if the cover was released on a CD, via iTunes or YouTube it would be 
OK, but if released via myspace (in the UK) your own website or Jamendo 
it wouldn't be.

He couldn't answer my questions - would releasing a track under a CC 
license be compatible with being a PRS-MCPS member - anyone know about that?

Cheers

Ed



Dr. Peter Troxler (Waag Society) wrote:
> Ed Pybus and Jessica Coates point to "cover licenses" in the UK and AU
>
> this is interesting, but I would like to see some evidence which I was  
> not able to dig up easily so far.  the only thing I found was that in  
> Australia the rights owners may not decline giving a license for a  
> cover song (which of course does not force them to give that license  
> for free) (http://www.infoshop.com.au/page.cfm?PageCode=music_guide)
>
> / pt
>
>   
>> In the UK anyone is allowed to 'cover' any song, as longs as you don't
>> alter the song (I forget the exact legal terms but a straight cover is
>> always OK a re-arrangement is sometime OK a re-interpretation needs  
>> the
>> rights holders permission). In the past this wasn't a problem since
>> every piece of physical product had to have a MCPS license before it
>> could be manufactured (even if the CD was going to be given away - the
>> biggest cost of a 'free' cover mount CD is usually the MCPS license),
>> which paid the songwriters royalty, so McCartney Lennon would get the
>> same royalty (as songwriter) if they recorded the song or if someone
>> else did.
>>
>> Now I'm not sure where this entitlement to record a cover version  
>> comes
>> from - if it's tied to the MCPS then I guess they could say if the
>> website in questions has a MCPS license then it's fine, if not then  
>> it's
>> not fine (eg iTunes pays a cut of each sale to the MCPS). If however
>> there some kind of statutory right to record a cover version of a song
>> then I guess that's different. In either case what's to stop, say, the
>> Bootleg Beatles recording the entire Beatles catalogue and releasing  
>> it
>> via iTunes?
>>
>> And how does a CC license work with a piece of music- is it the
>> recording that's released under the CC license or is it the 'song' -  
>> two
>> very different things.
>>
>> Anyway the short answer is I don;t know about Jamendo but'll be
>> interested to see what others think!
>>
>> Cheers
>> Ed
>>
>> drew Roberts wrote:
>>     
>>> Can someone comment on what is going on here:
>>>
>>> http://www.jamendo.com/en/album/24336
>>>
>>> The license shown for the songs on this album is:
>>>
>>> http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
>>>
>>> Yet track 4 is a cover of Please Please Me by Lennon and McCartney.
>>>
>>> Is this supposedly OK to do? Is this a country by country thing?
>>>
>>> I would have thought this could not be legally done...
>>>
>>> all the best,
>>>
>>> drew
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> cc-community mailing list
>>> cc-community at lists.ibiblio.org
>>> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/cc-community
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>       
>> -- 
>> --------------------------
>> S L    R E C O R D S
>> +44 (0) 131 466 2009
>> +44 (0) 7930 536 963
>> ed at slrecords.net
>> --------------------------
>>
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>>     
>
> / Peter Troxler
> / Senior Project Manager
> / Waag Society :: Nieuwmarkt 4 :: 1012 CR Amsterdam :: The  
> Netherlands :: +31 20 557 9898
>
>
>
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>
>   

-- 
--------------------------
S L    R E C O R D S
+44 (0) 131 466 2009
+44 (0) 7930 536 963
ed at slrecords.net
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