Copyright?

[Pretense]

I'm not sure if this is the right place for the topic, but I couldn't find anything that fit better so here goes:

A while ago I had a WWI phase and read up a bunch on it and of course the battle of Passchendaele came up and of course that bit from Siegfried Sassoon's poem came up with it.

Now I fell in love with that bit. I read the whole poem front to back, I dug up a bunch of Sassoon's other stuff (fascinating guy, btw) but in my head, nothing compared to those half-and-a-four lines. And what do you do with unattainable love? Exactly that, you get some chloroform and you bide your time.

*cough*

Basically what I'm trying to say here is that this one time I got really drunk and put a piece of a poem that came up in my head to music and now I have no idea what can I do with it given the whole copyright thing. Forget selling it, am I allowed to put the song on myspace? Do I have to contact someone? What do I do?

hALP1!

[Lazz]

What do I do?

First thing is perhaps to explain yourself better.

Which bit of Sassoon exactly ?

What is the context of use exactly ?

Relevant copyright concepts to be considered would be 'fair use' and 'derivative works'.

But maybe by now Sassoon has entered the public domain.

Ask at the library.

[Pretense]

First thing is perhaps to explain yourself better.

Which bit of Sassoon exactly ?

What is the context of use exactly ?

Relevant copyright concepts to be considered would be 'fair use' and 'derivative works'.

But maybe by now Sassoon has entered the public domain.

Ask at the library.

Right, sorry. The full poem is here and the bit I used is:

"I died in Hell

(they called it Passchendaele); my wound was slight

and I was hobbling back; and then a shell

burst slick upon the duckboards; so I fell

into the bottomless mud, and lost the light"

Sassoon died in '67 so the lifetime+70 years thing should still apply, right? Though I'll ask at the library, thanks for that.

As for the use, they're the only lyrics in the track. They're sung once over a verse which then repeats and follows into an instrumental bit, (which was written before, though I'm guessing it doesen't matter). So is it a"derivative work"?

Thanks again

[Lazz]

Sassoon died in '67 so the lifetime+70 years thing should still apply, right?

Well tickle me gentle with a feather !

I always thought he sank into the mud and poetry was all that was left of him.

In which case - yeah, copyright law applies.

When you're in the library - take a look at Sassoon in print and take note of who owns the rights.

(Librarians just love to help do a bit of sleuthing if needed - they have all these qualifications up the yin-yang about how to manage information, plus usually some other academic specialisation - and all anybody wants them to do is filing - so they love the chance to exercise some skill.)

Write the rights-owner a letter outlining your intention and ask for permission.

If they don't answer, give 'em a follow-up 'phone call.

Sassoon quotes have regularly been used in TV & Radio productions - so they must have a procedure.

Then, if they say no - get advice elsewhere on generally allowable useages (library?).

(No doesn't always have to really be 'no')

Maybe you can get away with a derivative work.

Maybe it can be seen as fair-use.

I dunno - never tried it.

Good luck.

[Pretense]

I looked the terms up in wiki, and I seem to match "derivative" pretty much word for word. Guess now it's onto harrassing unsuspecting librarians and last remaining relatives.

Thanks again, you've helped me a lot.

[Nightwolf]

Let us know what you find out and where you post the song

[Pretense]

Let us know what you find out and where you post the song

I will. I'm thinking of putting it up here minus the vocals, see if it's worth the effort.