Sampling classical soundbytes

Gordon

Hello. Sorry if this is the wrong forum.

The copyright for music lasts around 50 years is that right? Therefore the music to Beethoven's fifth symphony, for example, can be played by anyone as it is out of copyright... or something.. (Am I right here?)

Anyway, guessing that I am roughly correct - if someone makes a recording of Beethoven's fifth symphony and I sample that into my own tune would I still be in trouble for copyright infringement as it isn't Beethoven that would be after me but it would be, lets say, the Boston Firefighters brigade orchestra that would be after me??

*confused - Dublin*

shabbyroad

I'm not a lawyer, attorney, barrister, legal-eagle or anything even remotely qualified but here goes :

the first copyright you speak of is the copyright in the composition. There is a limitation on the copyright following the death of the composer however I understand that it is now 75 years and it is also possible for the estate of the composer to renew the copyright. What you're looking for here is the phrase ' public domain ' . Many a person has come a cropper when they found that the song they thought was public domain wasn't...and got their arses sued (for example....'Happy Birthday')

the second copyright you speak of is the copyright in the recording. don't even think of sampling it - it's not yours to sample and if you release it they'll come looking for you and eat your gonads while you sleep (ok that bit is an exaggeration).
Seriously though - if anyone out there thinks it's ok to sample and use someone elses work then please give me your home address and I'll come over and help myself to your xmas booze....it's the same thing....

when you buy a cd there are copyrights in a whole bunch of things -
the artwork and text on the cover and booklet
the cd label text and artwork
the compositions
the recording

Gordon

Thanks for the reply shabbyroad. So even very old music could still be copyrighted? Didn't know that.

Thanks for your help.

shabbyroad

well, as I said like at the end of the day, I'm no expert but an interesting case in point is the estate of John Lennon. He's now 22 years dead and it's not really all that long until the 50 or 75 years is up. I recall reading how Ono has secured the copyright beyond the 75 years.

If in doubt you can contact the folks at mcps.ie who can tell you whether the song is still published. It's not actually that expensive to pay for a mechanical license (that is : you make your own recording of someone else's composition). I've released a few CDs of copyrighted songs and paid the fees - was the least expensive and most hassle-free part of the whole release process.