Music and copyright:All you need to know
Music can be defined as pleasant sound.According to Wikipedia,’ Copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to make copies of a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educational, or musical form. Copyright is intended to protect the original expression of an idea in the form of a creative work.But not the idea itself.’ Copyright may be granted by government and patent offices which occurs after an application.
What happens When Music Copyright is violated?
Music is an intellectual property to many and many people have copyrighted even the simplest of lyrics. YouTube is one of the video sharing platforms of which copyright issues have really affected the musical platform. It has created problems for people who want to push their creativity by wanting to do a remix or even musical covers of various songs. Songs are being pulled down from platforms and in focus particularly YouTube.
Requirements are under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.Here, YouTube is obligated to take down copyrighted content that’s been uploaded by users with little incentive to question ambiguous cases once they have been identified. This is mainly due copyright issues pertaining to the song lyrics.Also, another issue is the sampling of beats from music creators. The latter has seen many songs being pulled down. When a person issues a copyright claim, he, she or the organization has two options:
1. Pull the video down fully.
2. Allow the video to remain in the platform and collect some revenue.
Example
Inthe east African music industry, we have seen copyright issues, really affecting it. Just last year Tanzanian based singer songs were taken down by Kenyan Music producer and singer Magix Enga, Diamond’s and Zuchu’s song was also brought down due to copyright issues.
Music labels need to do some background checks on lyrics and beats they use and check whether they are copyrighted, to avoid the embarrassment which comes with video or songs being pulled down. Even if the sounds aren’t copyrighted it’s always good to credit ones efforts in the song for the lyrics as well as the beats sampled.
Music producer, beat king, and artist Magix Enga said that every sound 6or beat you hear was made by someone and he or she deserves credits for his or her works.
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