I just bought a domain redhitz.com and thought it would be great as a music review place. I wanted it to be able t have a member base - and an ability for members to add music to it as well as reviews, details of upcoming concerts etc. I wanted to use some affiliate links to promote the sale of music aswell (legally of course - ie. Amazon or something). Is there a way to be able to play music on the site that doesn't break all of the laws? Or is this whole idea just not going to work. Does anyone have any ideas for making a site like this interesting - while still being 100% legit? Thanks in advance for your suggestions and advice Cindy
If you're talking about commercial music (like from major label artists), you'll need to have permission (and basically pay royalties) to play their music. If you're letting indie bands upload their own music, that would be more "doable."
Generally you're ok using CD art for reviews, because it would fall into fair use. I remember though when I first started doing reviews I came across something saying basically, if you have the CD and scan the image yourself, that's fair use. But that you weren't allowed to go to a website (let's say the cover art is posted on Amazon for example), and just save it from there. I don't remember why, or where I heard that, so maybe someone can clarify who's more familiar with that. I just know I avoid doing that and get the CDs or images directly from the artists. For major label artists, you might check the label websites and see if they have a press section with the images available in high resolution for you to use and resize for reviews. Jenn
I always thought the law said that you could play up to 30 seconds of a song w/o having to deal with royalties.. Might want to do some research and see if that is indeed the case. Amazon plays clips from most of their CDs this way.
All I was able to find on that is that it's generally accepted that 10% of the work at no more than 30 seconds is acceptable (but I was only able to find that confirmed for users in an educational setting). From the USPTO (But it very specifically says before the section this quote is in that it's valid for preparation of educational multimedia projects): Also, I'd recommend not doing anything that might get the RIAA on your case. I'd be highly surprised if Amazon doesn't have expressed permission for clips. Here's what the RIAA says on the 30 seconds issue: Not saying it's necessarily right or wrong... just that it's best to get permission to avoid major headaches later.
Sounds like a bit of a nightmare. Think I might just go with the legal thumbnail pictures and allow ppl to upload their own band's stuff. Sounds way safer Thanks for your help!
lol Probably. Besides... indie bands are a great market, b/c they network so well with each other. They help spread the word, so if they like your service, that will help it grow.