Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Illinois

Choir Concert/CD Copyright Question

Our community children's choir is performing a Christmas show and we don't know what legal protections we need to take. I'm sure we'd be fine with most of the classic Christmas songs, but we want to do some more contemporary numbers too, for example, a song by the Jonas Brothers. We are also looking into recording a cd of our concert to sell at the door. We have 2 performances of our show on 2 different days. What copyright laws do we need to know about? What action do we need to take?


Asked on 11/12/08, 8:11 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys
Motty Stone Law Offices of Motty Stone

Re: Choir Concert/CD Copyright Question

You have no problem performing the songs live, but may run into trouble if you make a recording. Depending on what songs, the songwriter's rights probably belong to recording studios such as BMG.

To be sure that you are safe, you should think about calling the studios to ask for a license to record your community concert. They may want some type of payment.

Please feel free to call us if you want to discuss the matter more fully.

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Answered on 11/12/08, 9:01 pm
Justin Lampel Lampel & Associates, P.C.

Re: Choir Concert/CD Copyright Question

Its simple. If you are recording or performing a song written by another and not yet in the public domain (such as the Jonas Brothers catalog) then you need permission. Failure to obtain permission could result in a copyright infringement action against you. Of course, in reality, if it is a very small production the chances are low of having a problem, but it is still possible.

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Answered on 11/13/08, 11:52 am


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