Entry 20

During week 7, I performed a duet song with my good friend, Wajih during the FUU Confession Night handled by Perundang. We sang "My Heart", an Indonesian song. It was wonderful, I really enjoyed teaming up with Wajih because he is a fun friend. I did not feel nervous at all because he was there. I felt like I had a friend. So, I was thinking, is it okay for me and Wajih to sing other people's song? Wouldn't that be a copyright infringement? I searched up regarding musical works for some general knowledge. it says that songs are creative works that are protected by copyright law. To copyright songs or copyright music, songwriters need only record their compositions in some tangible way, including on paper, film, tape or digital media. The copyright doesn’t have to be registered and the work doesn’t have to include a copyright symbol. That means that any song that’s been recorded is (or once was) protected by copyright.

The copyright in a musical composition is originally held by its creators—the composer and lyricist—but songwriters typically transfer their copyrights to a music publisher who will help promote the song, administer royalty payments and enforce the copyright. A song copyright gives its owners a group of rights, including the right to publicly perform the song, to make a derivative work based on the song, to reproduce the song, to distribute copies, and to publicly display the song.

The consequences of posting a cover song without a music license depend on the copyright holder. Some copyright owners don’t mind YouTube covers—they increase a song’s exposure and may introduce a new audience to the songwriters’ or original performer’s music. If songs are posted by fans, a band isn’t likely to risk alienating them by taking down their videos. Other copyright owners object to unlicensed use of their work. A few years ago, Prince famously had YouTube remove a video that showed a toddler dancing to one of his songs. 

If a copyright owner objects, YouTube may remove your video or it may negotiate a deal for the copyright owner to obtain revenue from ads that appear on YouTube. If YouTube removes the video for copyright issues, it will also place a strike against your YouTube channel. After multiple strikes, YouTube will delete your channel, along with the videos, subscribers, likes, views and comments. If you’ve worked hard to cultivate your channel, this can be devastating. YouTube cover songs are fun and can offer great exposure for up-and-coming musicians. 

But before you post a cover song, it’s important to understand the licenses you’ll need to do it legally. And it’s wise to get those licenses before you spend a lot of time and money recording your music video. For the case of me and Wajih, I guess it's not really of a big issue because we did not perform for monetary gain, and the event was not that big. However, I might have to read up more on this. 

souce:https://www.legalzoom.com/articles/posting-cover-songs-on-youtube-what-you-need-to-know