I mean I am not going to sing in a vacuum

@suspenseful (40193)
Canada
February 26, 2009 4:30pm CST
I was looking through my song books and they all have copyright notices on them. Now I have no idea how much one would have to pay to perform the song in public, i.e. at a concert hall or at your annual or semi annual Church festival so you can distribute Cds at cost, or put one of the songs on your site on the internet, but when one does love to sing, does not one want someone else to hear it, and not just the ones in your own community? Yet because of that Mickey Mouse character, all music made after 1923 has to be copyrighted and that goes past the seventy years after the composer or lyrist kicks the bucket. Now I will more likely live to be in my 90s, but come on people, I have yet to see anyone compose a song when they were a year old. So does anyone think that perhaps the copyright year should be upgraded maybe to 1940? Then that would make it easier for us singers. Yes too bad Mickey Mouse! You really scre*wed us.
3 people like this
4 responses
@Lakota12 (42600)
• United States
27 Feb 09
HEck I sang songs in Church that we bought the sheet music for Lie Whispering hope and Crying in the chapel. No one never said we couldnt!
2 people like this
@Lakota12 (42600)
• United States
27 Feb 09
hmmm never heard of that before. and what about the school concerts we did?
2 people like this
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
1 Mar 09
I think school concerts are all right. They recorded them, but sometimes the Christmas and Spring concerts are recorded and sometimes not. I would like a recording, like someone recorded the song I did last spring, but he ran out of tape. I wanted to know how good I did, just in case.
1 person likes this
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
27 Feb 09
I guess that the director or the conductor has to pay for the music. It is all right if you sing in the church. There are some pieces that give permission for such, but there are others that no matter where you sing, the one in charge of the music or the concert has to write and get their okay. It does seem frustrated because it might cost a bit.
1 person likes this
@mtdewgurl74 (18151)
• United States
26 Feb 09
Oh, I was unaware that Mickey Mouse had anything to do with copyrights of songs..see out of the loop I am. Carrie Underwood is coming out with a few of Randy Travis songs that were favorites. I wonder how much she had to pay for them or if he thought it an honor that she wanted to sing them? I have a Karaoke machine so I won't be singing in a vacuum nor do I want a audience though..I sing like frog..lol But I could see how frustrating it could be to want to sing some songs but couldn't because of the copyright business in place. Sorry to hear that. Maybe before your 90 they will do so..there is always hope.
2 people like this
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
27 Feb 09
Most of the songs we sing at concerts are old songs, but it gets rather tired of alternating between singing The Holy City, Oh Holy Night, or something from the Messiah or something Bach wrote year after year.
1 person likes this
• United States
1 Mar 09
Between copyrights, fair use and profit... You are certainly caught between a rock and a hard place unless you could compose something all together new? How much time do you got?
1 person likes this
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
1 Mar 09
I have to get that Yamaha 76 keyboard first. We do have a couple at church who can arrange pieces, only one seems to think sopranos are mezzos, and the other thinks we all are near-sighted. I can make up tunes, quite good at that, but my poetry stinks = more into limericks.
1 person likes this
• United States
21 Mar 09
What you sing from a song purchased for the music and lyrics and a performance not owned by a production company might very well be yours to do with as you please if not for profit. Definitely seek permission for the director of course, but they might not have a problem with you making a personal recording of yourself assuming the recording is not for profit. The key is you are making copies of your own performance for gifts... Thanks for the BR and your laws in Canada might be even more relaxed than ours down here. That means the research is on your shoulders to know what your laws are. I'm sorry if I'm making you work for your gifts, but that might be well worth the effort to do a little research upon. Good Luck, Sincerely, Gary
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
21 Mar 09
I think I will take along my Olympus digital voice recorder and record it so that I can have it for myself just in case there is a voice teacher in the audience.
1 person likes this
@SomeCowgirl (32191)
• United States
26 Feb 09
Well I am not quite sure what you can do about it but maybe you could try to contact the copyright office with a signed and notorized petition. If that doesn't change the rules or at least get them to thinking about what they can do to satisfy you and others with the same complaint then I don't know what to suggest to you!
2 people like this
@suspenseful (40193)
• Canada
27 Feb 09
I was looking at a musician site and it says that for an audience of 3000 people the copyright would cost $150 to $300 a year. But I do not know what it is for a smaller group. The trouble is in Canada that the director has to get permission for the songs or pieces to be recorded and when we have a church concert many of us would want a Cd or a tape to take home.
1 person likes this