Xaleph Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 I was hoping to get some help from DJP or from some of the judges or remixers in the community. While uploading information from animeremix.org to last.fm - I ran into a slight issue while uploading Shael Riley's Chipmunk's remix. He's already registered as a "popular artist" and they're suggesting that both him and myself do not have rights to the song he arranged - they are suggesting that we need to get the consent of the original artist. How did ocremix get around this in order to put stuff up on last.fm? I was looking at section 107 of the copyright laws (fair use doctrine), I'm not a lawyer but I understand a good portion of it. Now last.fm is in England if I remember correctly - but since the original music was in America (in this case) I'd imagine that it would fall under American copyright laws. Hi Matt,We can only accept remixes if you control the rights for the original song which the music was taken to or have been granted the rights to remix. Please let me know what your situation is regarding this. Thanks, Matt So do I need to come up with a terms of use and that other jazz that ocremix came up with to suggest ownership of these remixes? Do you guys have a lawyer working with you to help resolve these issues? What do I need to do in order to resolve this? Also feel free to give me a call about this if you have my number - it's very important to me that this doesn't become something it's not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BardicKnowledge Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 There's got to be a way around this, since OCR definitely doesn't "control the rights for the original song..." for any of the source tunes here, and while I'm not involved with the site on an administrative level to know for sure, I highly doubt that every individual composer/company of every game represented here has granted specific rights to the site. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawkwing Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 On the other hand, I don't think they really care. It doesn't hinder sales in any way. It's more of a tribute, so why would they say anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bahamut Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 From the FAQ: Isn't this music copyrighted? Yes, the original soundtracks and source tunes which OverClocked ReMixes are based on are copyrighted material. We are not out to infringe on the copyright owner's rights by making money off of their content. We are a fan site, and all material on OC ReMix is freely available and contains information on the source tune's game origin and composer (if available). The ads and merchandise on this site go only to pay for bandwidth, hosting, and other administrative costs. We are a not-for-profit web site established to honor the video game industry, not detract from it. We at OC ReMix encourage users to buy professionally released video game music soundtracks to support game music. The arranger owns their rights to their particular arrangement. He/she does not own the rights to the original song though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xaleph Posted September 5, 2007 Author Share Posted September 5, 2007 From the FAQ: The arranger owns their rights to their particular arrangement. He/she does not own the rights to the original song though. I agree with you - obviously this guy does not. Even the MPA disagrees with that. http://www.mpa.org/copyright_resource_center/copying Can I Make A Band Arrangement Of A Copyrighted Piano Solo? Can I Make A Flute Arrangement Of A Copyrighted Work For Clarinet? No. Making any arrangement is a duplication, and permission must be obtained from the copyright owner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bahamut Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 I thought an arrangement is considered a derivative work under the law? It is strictly speaking, not a duplication though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zircon Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 Actually, arrangements are legal, provided they don't change the fundamental character of the work. So adapting a piano piece to guitar is acceptable, or a guitar piece to orchestra. This is NOT considered a derivative work. However you must pay a small fee every time you distribute your arrangement - at the moment, 9.1 cents per song per "phonorecord" (a phonorecord in the case of downloads is.. one download.) 17 USC 115©. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drack Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 Actually, arrangements are legal, provided they don't change the fundamental character of the work. So adapting a piano piece to guitar is acceptable, or a guitar piece to orchestra. This is NOT considered a derivative work. However you must pay a small fee every time you distribute your arrangement - at the moment, 9.1 cents per song per "phonorecord" (a phonorecord in the case of downloads is.. one download.) 17 USC 115©. So OCR pays this in addition to bandwidth and hosting? What about difficult-to-measure distribution mechanisms like the torrents? What about streams like ormgas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 No offense, but is any of this discussion getting Matt closer to the answer he needs? His question regards arrangements that, correct me if I'm wrong, are actual derivate works that change the fundamental character of the work, since like OCR, Anime Remix's tracks aren't 1-for-1 arrangements, but rather interpretations. May need djp to chime in on how he corresponded with Last.fm to be clear. I just wanna make sure we're not going off the rails in the attempt to answer the original question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zircon Posted September 5, 2007 Share Posted September 5, 2007 Drack: No, we don't do that. OneUp Studios does that though (as far as I'm aware) as well as KFSS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xaleph Posted September 5, 2007 Author Share Posted September 5, 2007 No offense, but is any of this discussion getting Matt closer to the answer he needs?His question regards arrangements that, correct me if I'm wrong, are actual derivate works that change the fundamental character of the work, since like OCR, Anime Remix's tracks aren't 1-for-1 arrangements, but rather interpretations. May need djp to chime in on how he corresponded with Last.fm to be clear. I just wanna make sure we're not going off the rails in the attempt to answer the original question. I have to head out from work, but yeah - that's about right. Obviously ocremix did something that provided protection and explanation through the law. I need to know what that is/was. Zircon suggested that ocremix may have registered as an official non-profit. I wonder if this is what gives ocremix the protection. In which case I'll do the same for AR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PassivePretentiousness Posted September 6, 2007 Share Posted September 6, 2007 I thought it was predicated on fair use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zircon Posted September 6, 2007 Share Posted September 6, 2007 Yes, we don't really have any sort of hard legal defense as to what we do. It's as legal as fan art, which is to say, not very... we could argue fair use but that is something that you can't be sure of until it has been tested in court. Luckily, all the composers we've met (including those whose music we have arranged) are supportive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PassivePretentiousness Posted September 6, 2007 Share Posted September 6, 2007 Yes, we don't really have any sort of hard legal defense as to what we do. It's as legal as fan art, which is to say, not very... we could argue fair use but that is something that you can't be sure of until it has been tested in court. Luckily, all the composers we've met (including those whose music we have arranged) are supportive. well obviously it's not tested in court because thankfully no one in the community has been taken to court. the question is what OCR's response would be if taken to court instead of quickly taking the remixes down. if there isn't any you should really be getting explicit support of all copyright holders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Damned Posted September 6, 2007 Share Posted September 6, 2007 I would think that the bad publicity a company or composer would receive from going after fan-art and fan remixes would be enough to prevent them from doing so. Nothing says bad like suing your loyal customers. Unless it's fanfics. Then take 'em in court. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KWarp Posted September 7, 2007 Share Posted September 7, 2007 Unless it's perverted fanfics. Then take 'em in court. Most fanfics are harmless until they violate our general well-being. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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