What are copyright / fair use laws regarding uploading music on YouTube?

Jump to Last Post 1-4 of 4 discussions (8 posts)
  1. Say Yes To Life profile image80
    Say Yes To Lifeposted 9 years ago

    What are copyright / fair use laws regarding uploading music on YouTube?

    When I was at High Cascade Snowboard Camp a couple weeks ago, I took part in their talent contest.  I played the song, "Life in a Northern Town" from YouTube, while displaying a slide show I'd put together; over the music, I sang lyrics I had written myself, "Life in a Snowboard Camp".  Everyone was really touched; some male counselors had tears in their eyes. I won first prize.

    Can I legally upload this on YouTube?  If not, is there another way I can upload it here on HubPages? Or would that be illegal?

  2. RachaelOhalloran profile image83
    RachaelOhalloranposted 9 years ago

    The song "Life in a Northern Town" is still under copyright since it is a 1985 recording by The Dream Academy.  However, the group seems to have granted permission to a number of other musical ensembles to record or perform their hit in a public venue. 

    You would need to write The Dream Academy to ask permission to use.

    Tell them you are using just the instrumental music and have put your own words to it, as I understand from your post. Your use can be considered "fair use" if any case of copyright infringement would be brought against you.

    Copyrights last now for 95 years after the death of the author.

    Rather than get into it, it is best to use melodies and songs that are in the Public Domain or songs whose copyrights have expired. If you can extract the music from your video where you are only singing YOUR words to the melody, you would not be guilty of copyright infringement.

    1. RachaelOhalloran profile image83
      RachaelOhalloranposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      US Laws do not apply.. The band is from England so to reproduce any of their work requires a license.  Lawsuits have been filed & won when just a few bars of music was used - MCHammer,  Beastie Boys for just 3 bars! Fair use vs lawsuit. Better to

    2. Say Yes To Life profile image80
      Say Yes To Lifeposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      I gues it would be best for me to leave the viideo off.  I see loads of songs on YouTube, and wonder why they're on there if there are legal ramifications. I believe better safe than sorry.  Thanks!

    3. RachaelOhalloran profile image83
      RachaelOhalloranposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      What Snowman said is only half true. Using their music with your words is still their music, even if they are no longer a band. You can do as you wish, I'm just giving you my opinion as someone who writes on copyright issues.

  3. Snøwman profile image58
    Snøwmanposted 9 years ago

    Since you wrote your own lyrics to it it's considered fair use. It's legal to upload to youtube without asking permission.

  4. Say Yes To Life profile image80
    Say Yes To Lifeposted 9 years ago

    RachaelOhalloran - what if I simply included the YouTube link to the song that already exists?  Would that be ok?  Below it, I could include the pictures of my slide show?

    1. RachaelOhalloran profile image83
      RachaelOhalloranposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      I'm not a lawyer, I just write alot on it. As far as I know, if you use even 3 bars of a song w/o permission, even if it is just the instrumental part, you are infringing on their copyright. Sorry.

 
working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)