THIS IS FOR THE ESTABLISHED/UP AND COMING PRODUCERS
THIS COPYRIGHT SHIT IS GETTING CRAZY
Pt. 1
If you need evidence of just how ridiculous and broken copyright law has
become, look no further than the legal squall generated by Lil Wayne¹s track
I Feel Like Dying.
Urband & Lazar Music Publishing are suing Lil Wayne for the use of an
uncleared sample from a track by Karma-Ann Swanepoel. That¹s a business
suing, not the actual creator of the track. Oh, and they want to see
financial data from the album Tha Carter III.
I Feel Like Dying isn¹t on Tha Carter III, but: a lawyer for Urband & Lazar argues that Lil Wayne promoted the album by singing that song in concert and allowing fans to download it for free on
his Web site.
So they¹re looking for a slice of money from album sales on a track that
wasn¹t even on the album.
Let¹s just take a moment or two to pull up a chair, and ponder this: Lil
Wayne uses a sample uncleared, admittedly on a track he gave away. So
he¹s being sued on the basis, presumably, that someone who heard the sample
might have gone on to buy the album a someone who wouldn¹t have done so
otherwise.
Pt. 2
Rapper Lil Wayne is suing the producer of a song he performed that allegedly
sampled another singer¹s work without permission.
A lawsuit filed last year against Lil Wayne accuses him of copyright
infringement, saying he failed to secure permission to sample folk singer
Karma-Ann Swanepoel¹s song ³Once² on his track ³I Feel Like Dying.²
A lawsuit filed last week by the rapper¹s lawyers says Rebel Rock
Productions Inc., of Coconut Creek, Fla., produced ³I Feel Like Dying² and
was responsible for obtaining any necessary licensing agreements.
Well this discussion has been very interesting and since I have just finished a year of copyright law (which has to be the most confusing from intellectual property law), I think there is one thing that was briefly touched on by some. In general, the copyright owner has a bundle of rights by virtue of ownership. I think in the case of a song, the most important rights implicated would be the reproduction, distribution and public performance rights. Without looking at the copyright act, I do not think “offering for sale” is a requirement for infringement.
Now of course, it has to be profitable for one to build a case and thus the publishing company is trying to attach their song to Wayne’s successful album because else there is no money in the claim. I think it is one of those situations, that as others have explained, this only becomes a case by how profitable the unlicensed sample becomes (or becomes associated with I guess in this case).
Anyway, I like discussions like this and if any firm or label needs a young attorney, I’m available!
@Ayesha….Get at me.. I’m building my team… The war starts July 1rst..
SPOCK
instrumental music is very soothing and relaxing.*`-
i always listen to instrumental music whenever i want to relax.”`*
instrumental music is soothing to the ear and is quite relaxing;`~