The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #87085 Message #2533270
Posted By: Joe Offer
06-Jan-09 - 03:09 PM
Thread Name: Copyright/singing/publishing/add lyrics
Subject: RE: Copyright/singing/publishing/add lyrics
Hi -
We ask posters to post whatever they like and not worry about copyrights, to let us deal with that. It can be argued that posting lyrics for discussion in an Internet forum falls under the "fair use" allowances of copyright law, although we'd rather not try to argue that in court. Our policy is that we will remove lyrics if the copyright holder objects. We have rarely had an objection, because most of the songs posted here are of such small commercial value and because many folk musicians find our lyrics forum helps publicize their work. If at all possible, provide correct attribution for songs - and document the source of all lyrics you post, whether traditional or not. You will notice that in a number of posts, I have added attribution and corrections in brown typeface.
We don't encourage the posting of lyrics of current pop songs, but we don't prohibit it. Luckily, that's not an issue we have to deal with very often. We don't facilitate the sharing of MP3 files, because that could get us into trouble.
-Joe-