Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: Making money by covering/teaching songs online

If these musical compositions are original to you, then you should register them with the copyright office and provide a copyright notice on your web site. If they are merely "derivative works," then you are violating the copyright of the original composer(s), since one of the exclusive rights the law gives to copyright holders is the right to make derivative works.

If in doubt, change a few more notes and/or chords.

Re: Making money by covering/teaching songs online

You still face/risk claims of copyright violation if the holder can show sufficient source similarity. The more different your piece, the less likely. Unless you get to be 'big time' you probably don't have a lot to worry about. Getting a copyright use permission solves all your problems.

Re: Making money by covering/teaching songs online

The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) is 'one stop shopping' for copyright licenses.

See:

http://www.ascap.com/licensing

Re: Making money by covering/teaching songs online

All of the above information is correct. All you need now is a definition of "derivative work."

A �derivative work,� that is, a work that is based on (or derived from) one or more already existing works, is copyrightable if it includes what the copyright law calls an �original work of authorship.� Derivative works, also known as �new versions,� include such works as translations, musical arrangements, dramatizations,

fictionalizations, art reproductions, and condensations. Any work in which the editorial revisions, annotations, elaborations, or other modifications

represent, as a whole, an original work of authorship is a derivative work or new version.

You may see this definition and learn more about copyrighting derivative works here: http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ14.pdf

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