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  • Noob

I'm Asterus

Let's see, personal info:

 

I played the piano for about 9 years before stopping when I went to college and played the clarinet for school for about 5 years with private instruction. 

 

Not currently in any bands or groups, and not really interested in joining any

 

I occasionally mess around with songs, either with some improvisation practice or recording random tunes that come out of nowhere, but I don't really do much with either

My main field of expertise is writing lyrics for songs without vocals (example) or writing translyrics for non-english songs as adaptations (example)

 

If I am going to mess around with music, I just use Audacity and an old copy of Finale 2007 I got in high school. That doesn't happen often though. My web presence is limited to a lyrics blog and youtube channel

 

I live in the USA

 

Really, my only goals right now are to survive college and enjoy writing, both my poetry and my adaptations. Not much else at the moment, to be honest

 

I spend more time than I probably should writing poetry, writing lyrics and making videos for them, and watching/reading/playing Anime/Touhou/Vocaloid stuff. Aside from that, I'm just a typical shut-in, I suppose.

 

As for me being here, it's just a thing I do where I'll pick-up/drop a forum every year or so when a new one interests me or an old one just doesn't seem fun anymore ^.^

 

(Oh, right. If I need to remove those embedded links, let me know. The Board Guidelines seemed a little on the edge for what I was doing. Also, I'm not entirely sure how my Fair Use works are going to be received, now that I think about it)

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Hey

I guess you could get into bother if you are doing unofficial translations, if you are doing your own thing grafted onto existing songs etc then you most definitely can get into trouble for copyright breaches. If YouTube got wind of it you could find your work removed and your channel closed. They tolerate it at a low level by redirecting advertising income to the copyright owners, but I understand there is a 3 strikes and you are out policy.

Out of interest "Fair Use works" seems to be more likely a flag of misinformed convenience than anything else. The way you use the term seems to hint more at a misunderstanding of copyrighted works and how Fair Use works...

Fair Use is about using works in an educational setting. It also depends how much of the work is used. When I say used I mean "displayed" or "performed". It does not include reworking a piece for non-commercial purposes... I say that last because I have seen that view being put forward by ill informed video and game producers, and also by modern "music producers" who seem to think if it is being used in a non commercial way that that isn't breaking any laws. Sadly for them this just isn't true, it's an urban myth invented by people who are more interested in quickly doing a track or video or game who hope that just because they want it to be that way that it is that way. It isn't.

The other very commonly misunderstood application of Fair Use is where creative works are seen as Public Domain. The trouble comes because 99% of the time the so called Public Domain works aren't public domain at all. For example, a long standing member here recently had a musician use her lyrics, which were posted on a collab site, in one of his songs. Not only did he use the lyrics without her permission, he did so with her expressly forbidding him to use them. He defended his right (mistakenly) to use the lyrics as fair use because the lyrics were in the public domain. Of course he misunderstood fair use and public domain, which he took to mean publicly displayed, and cited the fact that the use was non commercial. Wrong again! He may well find himself sued and banned from several sites.

Now if that isn't you, and that isn't how you interpret ""Fair Use" excellent! However, if that had been how you have interpreted it, I would worry more about any copyright owner spotting your use of their copyrighted work and going after you. That is happening more and more often. Damages are not just limited to commercial enterprises and breaches are no longer always civil matters. In fact there is now a trend towards treating copyright breach as a criminal act. For example, full and complete attribution... If you omit it, that is a criminal act right there. The same is true for changing the attribution.

For your sake, I hope that isn't the way you have approach making music, games or videos.

Other than that, welcome to Songstuff. :) I don't say all that to cramp your style or kill your buzz, I just know there are common misunderstandings going about that ultimately can cause a lot of problems, and you just used several buzzwords.

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  • Noob

Well, for the sake of brevity, I went with the blanket statement for how my videos relate to Fair Use, but here's the whole summary.

 

While the use of copyrighted material is most secure for the purpose of Education and Unbaised Criticism and Review (And to a lesser extent, parody), the stuff I do technically falls under the heading of a transformative work, as defined in Section 107 of the Copyright act of 1976. Going through the 4 categories under consideration:

1) The work is transformative in that the actual content produced are the lyrics I wrote myself, and the entire project is non-profit and does not benefit me financially

2) Not much to say here, really, besides the fact that everything I use has been published

3) I only use the instrumental's for the song because it's necessary for the work as a whole, and the full song only is used upon request and arguments that it's needed to figure out what exactly I was going for

4) My videos do not compete, damage, or replace the original work in any way, and I would argue that it actually benefits and spreads awareness of the work by allowing english fans to enjoy the song in their native language if they so choose to

 

Haven't had too many problems using this argument so far. I've overturned 5 copyright strikes over the past 2 years, and one more's pending (Even have a saved word document to copy-paste because it keeps happening). Of course, I don't know of any of those were issued in earnest or were just due to Youtube's knee-jerk reaction to content-ID alerts and anonymous flagging, so that might not mean much.

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Hey Asterus

I am glad you have researched the issues and given them due consideration. It is a risk, but at least one you have considered in a relatively informed way (more informed being seeking legal consultation with an Entertainment Lawyer). You stand apart from many in your field in that regard. Out of interest, have you, or do you, ever contact the publisher to seek permission?

In doing translations I am inclined to agree that it opens it up to a new market. My concern for you would be that if a court found against you, even if damages were $1, you would be liable for all legal costs. Additionally, court isn't always about winning or losing, it is often about the financial strain of simply getting to a decision.

On the YouTube thing, the 3 strike rule is 3 confirmed strikes. One of our site staff was called out a few times by YouTube and his work as far as I know was original. Eventually he voluntarily withdrew from the advertising program because he was so annoyed. I am guessing you can't be enrolled in the YouTube advertising program as that is considered "commercial exploitation of the work".

The big problem I see is that so much of your defence would be subjective. YouTube don't make authoritative rulings, but you know that. You might get away with it as it is not a direct competition, but I am not completely convinced. Obviously YouTube now offer a Mashup award... So they must have some kind of tie in in place with the main publishers?

As ever, interesting stuff. We are 99.9% content creators and permitted / non permitted use comes up fairly often.

Out of interest, why these particular animations? I am interested in the creative inspiration link

Cheers

John

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  • Noob

Really, my choices for songs are determined by whether I really like the song and I started writing lyrics in my head, or if it was requested from someone.

 

I actually haven't really reached out to any publishers, but I'm not sure how common that is with others doing the same thing. Christina Vee might have considering her official voice actor work, but it is highly unlikely Y. Chang does, and I believe it was mentioned once that Amanda Lee, Silverletomi and Lizz Robonett almost certainly don't (All more prominent Songwriters).

 

Edit: Though I suppose another point of interest is TYERecords' problem with certain videos being taken down from time to time. I think it's a matter of them relying too much on original instrumentals on occasion, rather than checking up on whether those seem to be auto-flagged and whether safer alternatives are readily available.

Edited by Asterus
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Hi! Even though we already met in another forum I will give you a formal WELCOME! ;)

//MMR

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