HN Explorer

Ask HN: How do I find out if I'm infringing copyrights?

4 points by edb ↗ HN
I'm setting up a webapp that will play and organize clips of old musical recordings for playback and analysis, and maybe some newer ones.

How do I find out if this is legal before investing time and money into this?

9 comments

[ 0.49 ms ] story [ 38.4 ms ] thread
cschneid
Lawyer?

Also, if the music clips are newer than "ancient" you're probably infringing.

answerly
Here is the RIAA's position:

"Online piracy is the unauthorized uploading of a copyrighted sound recording and making it available to the public, or downloading a sound recording from an Internet site, even if the recording isn't resold. Online piracy can now also include certain uses of "streaming" technologies from the Internet. Because of the nature of the theft, the damage is not always easy to calculate but not hard to envision."

Source: http://www.riaa.com/physicalpiracy.php?content_selector=pira...

edb
Is it wise to contact the RIAA and ask them if what I'm doing is legitimate?
pedalpete
I wouldn't contact the RIAA, they have a notoriously bad reputation (assuming you could actually get to anybody reasonable).

I'd go the route of the current mp3 search engines. Do some research on Fair Use Copyright and DMCA. Also check out the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation).

edb
good suggestion. Thanks!
ConradHex
I suspect if you have to ask them, the answer is a big-time "no".
pedalpete
Just to clarify the above, the RIAA's position is not a legal definition, just what the RIAA wants. Therefore the "Online piracy is..." section is inaccurate, replace that with "The RIAA considers Online piracy as..."

and no, I'm not a lawyer.

quoderat
The way the system works now, is if some large business interest says you're infringing, you won't have the power or money to fight them.

Great system we got going here.

anamax
Talk with a lawyer. Some things are under copyright, some aren't, and in some cases it isn't clear, for various definitions of "not clear".

Gather your content appropriately.

Also, find out what your obligations are if someone brings a complaint.

Design your processes appropriately.