Chances Of Copyright Violation?

[macmanmatty]

Hello, I am working on a new song called "free beer" but it uses almost the same melody to charlie daniels' uneasy riders songs . Words are entirley different but the melody (if you wish to call it one it almost just talking) is the same. For those who have heard those songs do you think I would be in trouble if it became a hit and I didn't put him in the credits?

[john]

Without hearing the melody it i impossible to say, but as you are the writer,if you say it is close then I will take it as a court would find it violates the copyright....

That being the case you would be in trouble.

It isn't as simple as using it and giving them credit. That's like using someone's car (who you don't know) and leaving a "thank you" post it in the car. If you want to avoid issues you will need to contact the publisher and ask permission to use the melody AND to write new words for it. This is the case whether it becomes a hit or not.

Some artists think that if they give their music away for free that that means they will not be pursued. Not true. Publishers and copyright owners do not need to go to court to take action. They can easily contact your OMDs or your web hosting company, or even Google, YouTube etc and issue a take down notice. That can result in not only the removal of your song, but of all your songs! No court action needed.

[macmanmatty]

That's the problem it really has no clear melody Kinda like the talkin blues

[john]

There should be no issue with spoken works, although if you replicate cadence and meter they may well try to make something of it. The bigger problem would be if there ARE melodic bits, and you replicate those, then we are definitely back in infringement territory, especially if you match meter and cadence of the spoken section too.

With differences in the melodic bits I would think it hard for them to prove, but I am not a lawyer and what I say is personal opinion and doesn't mean anything in the grand scheme of things. Lol