Hi, In a few months or so I am planing on opening a music site where people can upload their songs and share them with visitors, users and other bands/artists. This brings up a question about music piracy and legal issues. On this site I want to open anyone will be able download(for free), buy or just listen(all this depends on the music artists options for his/her own music). I was just wondering, what if one artist uploaded another artists mp3(s)/songs without permission? For example: Some uploads 50 cent - I get money. Would I(the site owner) be responsible for this or would I have to state it on the legal before a user signs up? I was also wondering, what if someone made a remix of a song(of another artist) and uploaded it, for example, 50 cent - I get money(Fatboy remix). I've seen this done on other sites and it seemed ok because it was a remix by the person who uploaded it but still from a different artist. I need to know this stuff, so if anyone who can help, thanks
You will be in trouble. First if someone post song and you do not take it off site or block it your liable for people downloading it. Second a remix is not legal unless original song owner gives permission.
If you were in the US, you would need to register an agent with the US copyright office (it's like $85). That agent would handle notices of infringement. After being alerted to infringement you would need to take down the offending material. Being in Canada, it is hard to say. In Canada, it is currently legal for people to download copyrighted music. It is illegal to upload. I haven't seen anything that describes the website owner's responsibility in such a case (where the content is user generated). Of course, that wouldn't stop the record industry from trying to sue, possibly in US court (depending on the song). If you do make such a site, make sure that it is clearly spelled out in the ToS. Remixes would be a derivative work. The original author holds the rights to make derivative works. So if the person that made the remix didn't obtain permission to do so, the resulting work is infringing.
thank you for your help, I have another question though, I live in Canada, the server I want to put the site on is in Canada but the site will welcome anyone worldwide to sign up and upload music. How will different countries laws effect me since each country has it's own set of law regarding the downloading and uploading of mp3 music? What counties laws do I have to follow and how do I do this with a worldwide distribution?
practice due diligence. an EUA, and liability contract will protect you from the situation you proposed. have the user agree that the music/song/work is not copyrighted material. and for them to agree to your services. if you are contacted by a legal department say 'sony' for example, just comply, find the song/uploader, and remove them. they may ask for user details, since you are Canadian, look into PIPEDA(it will tell you what information you need to collect and when you can give it out, and what you can use it for), and for other people who may have a similar problem, check with your state for compliance & privacy issues regarding this. as bluegrass said: cleary state the terms of service - Since you are Canadian, just make sure to "ensure" your users compliance with your ToS, and you'll be fine.