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I am a musician and I wrote a song (lyrics/music) and recorded (but not released/published) it. Months later, I heard a song in a snowboarding video that has the same melody as in my song. My girlfriend and I did a double-take b/c it sounded so familiar. I have put my music on iTunes and am about to release a hard copy CD and wondering if there is any liability if I go ahead and register the copyrights for all of my songs and "put it out there"?
Your registration of the copyright does not provide you with statutory remedies against an alleged violation of copyright that occurred prior to registration, but it can provide additional protection going forward.
Sometimes... songs sound a lot alike.
My big concern was that if I release my song I could get sued or something by this band whose song I heard in the snowboarding video and I realized the melody in my song is strikingly similar to theirs for a portion of the song. I know that it is coincidental that they sound similar and that I heard their song for the first time after writing mine. Are you suggesting that I have nothing to worry about in this case b/c sometimes songs sound similar? Just hoping to easy my paranoia !
Thank you.
If their song came first, or you cannot prove that the date you composed the song predates their copyright, they could accuse you of copying it even if you did not. As you should have seen from the link, even though they contended from the start that no copying occurred, Coldplay settled the claim that they copied a song.
Oh okay, I didn't actually see the link until just now. Hmmm, I have released the song digitally on iTunes but am debating whether or not to put it on my hard-copy album. Any more advice?
Thanks in advance
Can you establish that your recording predates the other artist's composition?
hmm, not positive. What if I had a demo recording of the melody in question from when I was writing the song and that predated the date the band officially released their version? At the moment, I don't actually have the name of the band/song so I can't easily look it up to see when their version was released. Would that suffice?
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Okay, looks like there song was published in January of 2010 and "created" according to copyright.gov in 2009. So, I don't think I have proof that I wrote mine first. Would you mind having a listen to the two songs and letting me know if you think there is something to be concerned about? I would really appreciate it.
It's not a call I can make for you.
How popular was the song? Any chance you heard it, and that it formed what a court might conclude was a "My Sweet Lord"-sort of subconscious influence?
Okay, I understand that. I don't think it was very popular and I am nearly positive I hadn't heard it before. If somebody does sue for copyright infringement, can they only sue for the earnings that the particular song has brought in?
I would advise you, especially not to worry, because the melodies are not prove similarity so simply, you need special laboratory tests. Especially if you have created one before. Also, to prove you can, if you still have the original file to your tunes from your past rival (Owned by the date in the file attributes), then you can try to fix the notary.