Christopher Saebec walks you through some of the most commonly misunderstood copyright laws: Performance Rights, Right To Make Changes To Other’s Songs, and Fair Use Rights.

1. THREE OF THE MOST UNDERSTOOD
MUSIC COPYRIGHT LAWS

2. THE PERFORMANCE RIGHT
• Many musicians believe they have the right to perform
any song, in any place, at any time.
• However, the right to perform songs depends on the
individual song owners, not the performers.
• Song owners are entitled to collect royalties for all public
performances of their songs.
• This means that performers need licenses to perform
them.

3. THE PERFORMANCE RIGHT
• Business owners and
musicians are required to pay
for performance licenses if
they want to play music for
their customers.
• If your band ends up
performing at a bar,
restaurant or party, then you
will want to ensure the venue
has paid for a performance
license before you play any
cover songs.

4. THE RIGHT TO MAKE CHANGES
TO OTHERS’ SONGS
• Making changes to the lyrics or melody of a song may
seem like a good way to leave your mark or show your
unique artistic talent, but you actually need permission
from song owners before changing inherent parts of the
song.
• There are some things that you can change, such as
tempo and key, but anything that alters the fundamental
bones of the song requires that you get in contact with
the song owners first.

5. Be prepared to pay a fee to the song owners for the
privilege of making changes to the song.

6. FAIR USE
• There are no hard and
fast rules about what is
fair use, making it the
most commonly
misunderstood parts of
copyright law.

7. The courts evaluate fair use on a case-by-case
basis, weighing factors four factors to determine fair
use.

8. FAIR USE CONSIDERATIONS
• Whether the use is for commercial or nonprofit/educational
purposes and how the use will effect the value of the
original work.
• Nature of the copyrighted work.
• Amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to
the copyrighted work as a whole.
• Effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of
the copyrighted work.

9. FAIR USE - THE BOTTOM LINE
• Whenever you make a lot of
money or gain fame and
influence by borrowing
someone else’s idea, there is
a good chance that someone
will take legal action against
you.
• It is always best to err on the
side of caution by asking for
permission before making
changes to someone else’s
work.