ilovefuzz.com

So I'm not very familiar with copyright laws, and that's where I need you guys to step in and inform me!

As some of you may already know, I'm going into the studio to record my band's first album, 'Fire,' and there's a lot of experimental stuff I wanna do on it 'cuz it fits conceptually. The finishing touches on the album are going to be sets of tape loops fixed into songs and used as segways between songs.

If you're unfamiliar, a tape loop is an analog kinda sample, typically about <1 to 2 seconds long, made by snipping a 6 inch piece of the tape in a cassette and scotch-taping it to itself, so it will repeat indefinitely in a cassette player. Typically when I make them, they never come out perfect and often they end up reversed and sped up or slowed down dramatically, to the point where the original source is hardly recognizable.



The thing is, a lot of the tapes I'm making are sourced from copyrighted materials. For instance, I have a very ambient loop from an old Clapton cassette I found. Idk what song it was or what album it was off of, but it sounded a lot like a live set. I made a loop of a guitar solo he played and I set it so it'd play backwards and maybe half speed, or somewhere inbetween normal and half speed. It doesn't even sound like a guitar, just a weird ambient goopy synth. So it's definitely not recognizable as a Clapton cassette.

Another one I clipped is from some kind of a self-help tape and it says "My self-esteem is growing daily!" This is practically the best one I've made since it literally isn't messed up at all and it's most obviously from the cassette I clipped it off of.

Are these tape loops safe to use on my band's album when it's recorded? I intend to sell the albums for about 5 bucks a pop when they're finished, but I don't wanna get sued for copyright infringement. Is the Clapton tape safe and the self-help one risky?

TIA.

Pretty much it seems to come down to if you had no part of it and it is noticeable as someone else's work you have a chance of getting trouble as slim to none as it is. Using the Clapton tape if it sounds nothing like the original then just respond with what Clapton tape, I doubt many people taking copyrights seriously for a homemade tape loop probably doesn't even know what you did in reality to get the loop. If it is a clear sample and someone out there could pick it out and be like what the fuck why is this on here you could take the risk if you really want to if its a main part of the song. If anything you could try and add that part of your live show so its something different from on the cd. And your from Jersey too so I got your back if Warner Bros comes after you haha. If you get any shows starting in May after this last month of the semester is over Ill try and make it out to a show pick up a cd and chat about fuzzy things.

u dont really need to worry about copyright infringement unless you are making big dollars and getting lots of exposure....if someone sees u gettin paid off said sample, then they might try to come after u...if your just an indie dude sellin albums yourself for 5 bucks a pop. i doubt u would need to worry about something like that. esp since u said you are fucking the samples up beyond recogonition.

also i read one time that there is a precedent case that basically stated if hte sample you use is not the majority or the heart of your song then its not copyright infringment...i dont remember what it was or who was involved but i bet u could google it if u really wanted to.

thats my 2c.

fuck sample permission. if you can't tell that it's a clapton sample then he probably wouldn't either. you'll be fine.

x

orangeespoom wrote:Cue me repackaging your music + selling it for myself.

i'll make some more, you can have that too. i'll keep the money I make playing shows (assuming I ever do).

Google Girl Talk and fair use. Girl Talk uses hundreds of samples without paying for them under the Fair Use part of copyright law. If anyone asks, tell them its fair use and they'll probably shut up. Since it is such a short sample, you should be fine.

orangeespoom wrote:

smile_man wrote:fuck sample permission.

Cue me repackaging your music + selling it for myself.

Man, it's totally different and you know it.
Even the Beatles sampled stuff. Not necessarily in the 'classic' way of doing it, but they used tape loops.

x

if u wanted to u could go to your apra or amcos not sure what they call where your from and get like a license for the portion
but yeah i doubt claptons gonna hear your record and be like GAHH HOW DEAR THEY!
but then again ive heard some cracker of music lawsuits over the smallest of things lol

even if u did kinda reverse and changed it if they were pissed im sure they could argue it pretty hard haha

i dunno up to you im no expert i was asleep most of the time in music copyright classes

Alright guys, well, thanks for the heads up. I'll just take my chances. If it doesn't come out as cool as I think it will, I'll just scrap the tape loop idea. Better safe than sorry.

Humandrivein wrote:If you get any shows starting in May after this last month of the semester is over Ill try and make it out to a show pick up a cd and chat about fuzzy things.

I'll let you know! I'm totally down for that!

If anybody else has any info or personal experience to contribute, I'm all ears. This issue remains somewhat unresolved, but I'm sure I'll be fine.
Thanks all!

Yeah dude,

bottom line, if it's unrecognizable, than you're solid. People will just be like "Woah, Sweet Sounds"


so let's do it.

hclapp219 wrote:Google Girl Talk and fair use. Girl Talk uses hundreds of samples without paying for them under the Fair Use part of copyright law. If anyone asks, tell them its fair use and they'll probably shut up. Since it is such a short sample, you should be fine.

Took the words right out of my fingers.





















And fuck Girl Talk.

Or if someone asks you could respond:

I AM THE LAW.