Oh! sorry; guess the term copyright is confusing on its own (it is confusing)Hi Guys
All very interesting and true but I still haven't seen anyone upload a single solitary style file up here as yet. Has all this talk scared everyone off? I also note that Saul (the big boss) hasn't commented as yet
Bottom line then..do we just keep the styles we have to ourselves and not share with others?? I have noticed that there is a "Yamaha Styles" Facebook Group (in the UK actually) that is uploading styles left right and centre and even uploading photos of the artist along with the upload. I think they are created with very basic software as they all seem to have just a single intro/ending and often just a single or maybe two variations but they say "new styles uploaded daily or we make a yamaha style from your favourite song" and no they don't sell them.
Chris
Ed Sheeran can't come after you for making a style in the style of his song, perfect, because, as you pointed out, the melody isn't included, and copyright had previously been applied towards melody, nothing else, not even chord progression!
*However* the fact that Robin THicke & Pharrell got sued by Marvin Gaye's estate for Blurred Lines for copying a "vibe" is probably what scared all real musicians; here we have a copyright case that is based on arrangement, not melody!! I personally think it should be overturned. A bit ridiculous, but not without precedent, however: I think an iconic riff or bassline might/should fall under copyright, like Billy Jean's bassline, Sweet Child O Mine's guitar riff. TBF, Marvin Gayes "Got To Give it Up" does have a somewhat distinct bassline, but I fail to see why this was a successful copyright claim but other artists can "interpolate". Juries for music trials should be comprised of *musicians* only!
But if you're making a song specific style, and it too, is a generic enough arrangement to play other songs with, even the estates of songwriters would be hard pressed to come after you for creating something with no melody (incidentally, that would be *your* work, at that point).
Any lawyers on here?
Mark
Statistics: Posted by amwilburn — Sat Aug 31, 2024 10:23 pm