Hard News: Friday Music: Reinventing Beatles
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matthew bannister, in reply to
Hi Simon
I looked into this issue further - mechanical licences as issued by APRA only cover "hard" copies produced for sale - eg as a CD. Digital reproductions (even for streaming only) need a different licence, called a Mini Online or Streaming licence. However, APRA also says that if I do not own the copyright of the work (as is the case here) I may have to additionally obtain consent from the copyright owner (and I already asked, and Sony/ATV said no). So there you have it. The implication seems to be that if you own the work (ie wrote it yourself) then you'll be okay, but then why would you bother applying for a licence in the first place? (Although of course if you have a publisher, then you don't entirely own your own work).
I also wonder what this means for all those millions of webcam videos on Youtube of ordinary people performing versions of other people's songs - I guess they're all illegal.
Cheers
Matthew -
Simon Grigg, in reply to
I looked into this issue further – mechanical licences as issued by APRA only cover “hard” copies produced for sale – eg as a CD. Digital reproductions (even for streaming only) need a different licence
Yes, streaming in another thing altogether, you are correct. However, if you just release the album, via CD or iTunes etc you're covered. There are literally millions of cover versions on iTunes alone and that's how they're there. I had a case recently where one track I control was covered and the writer hated the cover, so we looked into this at the time. There was nothing we could do.
Streaming is another whole ballgame and you do need those sorts of licenses to allow you to do it, even to play track previews on many online stores (although that's grey still).
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Howard Edwards, in reply to
I should add that the sort of cover version I like best is a new interpretation which brings out a completely new aspect that was never part of the original, something that leaves you with your mouth wide open and your eyes popping the first time you hear it.
Two examples that spring to mind (from my 60s vintage) are Joe Cocker's cover of the Beatles' "With A Little Help From My Friends" and Yes's cover of Simon and Garfunkel's "America".
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