Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Illinois

Re: Midi Sequences

Owen:

Thanks for contacting me. What a tangled web is the U.S. Copyright Law. MIDI versions of songs are considered property of the original composer AND NOT the sequencer. It is known as a "derivative work"--a transformation. One of the rights afforded a copyright holder under the law is the right to prepare, or allow other the right to prepare, derivative works of his/her creative work. The original composer can control others from preparing derivative works or he/she chooses to license others to prepare them.

This sort of falls into the Napster vein in that individuals are posting and downloading songs, albeit MIDI versions. Therefore, noncommercial and personal use doesn't make the creation, downloading and use OK.

Although, I wasn't aware of this site, I find it unlikely that individuals who post MIDI sequences of popular songs there went to the trouble of getting a proper license to prepare and distribute a derivative work of a given popular song.

Thanks,

Don Simon

Re: Midi Sequences

A copyright holder has the rights to that work, as well as derivative works. A midi reproduction does sound simliar to the original work, so it is likely that such a reproduction would be copyright violation. The question would hinge on whether the reproduction is "fair use," which includes among other things the right to make archival copies.

The songs on www.vgmusic.com, if covered by copyright, and not endorsed by the original copyright holder may be illegal. Further research and investigation is needed to make a full determination.