Freesound Forums

Hi,

I wonder if you can help me on this. I recently captured an amazing recording of some traditional Sicilian musicians performing inside a castle courtyard. The atmosphere and reverb is amazing and I'd love to share it.

What process do you go through? Is it fair game if they are in public and mixed with the sound of the crowd and the space in general? Or should I find out who they were somehow and ask their permission?

Hi spoonbender,

I think if you put it like that it would be oke..
Upload it as a Field-recording... give the place and time in the description.
Describe the sound as good as possible... name of the castle etc.
Shouldnt be a problem I think.. but Im not a modarator.

I recommend not posting it until you track down the origin of the music and assure that you are cleared to do so. Copyright is tricky, but generally more protective than most people think.

If the performance was of a copyrighted work (as opposed to something in the public domain), then the copyright holder can retain certain rights regarding a recording of the performance. Reproductions of the recording are normally sold and a certain fixed amount of money is due as royalty to the copyright owner, often paid through a proxy such as (in the US) Harry Fox Agency (see their web site for lots of information). People who wish to keep their royalty income secure will often refuse to grant permission for having the works on the internet for free download, including freesound. The fact that you are not charging money for your recording of the performance does not in any way take away the owner's rights. Perhaps it even makes it worse. On the other hand, some writers and artists are more than willing to gain exposure in this way, and yet may require that certain attribution be given so that any interested party can follow up with them. Also, if the work is "tainted" enough by crowd noise, etc., then you might not have much trouble obtaining direct permission from the copyright holder -- you just have to figure out who that is, and ask. I've obtained free permission like this in the past for limited-distribution CD's, but even then the agency overseeing the rights was quite concerned that it never be posted to the internet (and that was *not* a "tainted" case but a studio recording of professional musicians). Beyond the musical work's copyright, I am not certain about what rights the actual performers may have regarding the recording -- there may be none since it was a public performance, but perhaps someone here knows and can clarify.

The US courts introduced the concept of "Fair Use" by judicial ruling, so it is not spelled out in law but in guidelines given by court rulings. It would allow you to post a short snippet, perhaps a few seconds, from your recording. To post the entire work would most definitely not fit "fair use" by any stretch.

And besides that, the moderators would reject a recording of a song since it is music, per se, which is not what freesound is for. SoundCloud and certain others might be an appropriate alternative, but again, get the copyright issue pinned down first.

Thanks escortmarius and zimbot,

It sounds like traditional music, but that could be misleading (people still write traditional music!)

I've take both points onboard. Also on reflection, I guess if I was performing and found recordings of my performance online without any attempt to contact me and ask, I'd be a bit peeved..

I think it's useful to have this discussion here though as it will help future participants.

So, I managed to track them down yesterday. They are based in Sicily. Anyone know a good translator?

I'm Italian, if that may help

Oh, It would genuinely be good to email in both languages!

I was going to say:

"Hi, I was recording some ambient audio in Alnwick Castle, Northumberland, UK and I caught some of your performance when you were there performing as part of the international music festival. It is a really nice atmospheric recording that has the sound of your instruments echoing off the castle walls and the gentle hum of the crowd and children playing. I would like to share this online with the freesound audio recording and sharing community http://freesound.org and I am writing to ask your permission to do that under a creative commons attribution, no commercial use license. I have uploaded a clip to my server for you to hear [link]. I hope you don't mind me asking.

Best wishes, etc."

You got a PM

You Are Awesome!

Well, just in case anyone wondered. I emailed them 10 days ago and haven't heard anything. I'm not reading much into that or their reason for not replying but I guess the chances of sharing this recording are decreasing.

That is a tricky question. I am no expert in sound distribution, but I do know about writing books. As a writer I can write about, say, the Beatles, if I print the word "Unauthorized" across the top. The same is true with movies, there are hundreds of Star Wars fan films on youtube that I'm sure did not get permission from George Lucas. Also, the local news and/or news paper can report on a band performing in the area without getting permission.
I believe, what it all comes down to is giving the artist credit. Don't lie and say you are the musician, but rather post it, name the band, and praise how good they are. If for some odd reason they come across your posting and want it taken down, they should send you a warning before taking you to court. If that occurs, offer to reimburse them, if that does not work then do as you are asked and remove it. In my opinion, I think most performers would love the free publicity-- that is if they have any brains.

spoonbender wrote:
Well, just in case anyone wondered. I emailed them 10 days ago and haven't heard anything. I'm not reading much into that or their reason for not replying but I guess the chances of sharing this recording are decreasing.

They might have just not seen the e-mail. You know some people are terrible at e-mail maintenance.

For example, my mother will only check her e-mail once in a few months. This is just due to her forgetting that it exists as a form of acceptable communication other than telephony.

My advice to you for the future. Print out some 'release forms' and take them with you wherever you take your recorder, then get the subjects to sign the release form if they agree to do so (after explaining your intentions). This is what photographers have to do, and I urge any sound collector to do the same f you are recording any sort of 'performance'

Just my two-penneth: In some countries, including my own (the UK) there is an obscure copyright exemption which is known as the ‘taking a picture of a painting rule’ (or something, I forget). The idea of this is to protect people from being sued for something such as taking a picture of their front room which has a copyrighted piece of artwork hanging on their wall (for example).

However, I’m not completely sure that sort of exception would apply in this case — an audio equivalent would seem to be more recording the atmosphere in a restaurant with a vaguely audible commercial song playing on the speakers.

As others have noted, copyright law is, unfortunately, far more restrictive than most people think. I reckon I could get about a thousand years in prison for all the legally purchased CDs I’ve ripped to my computer. (Yes, really, the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1986 makes anyone who does this a dirty rotten criminal.)