New York | Intellectual Property
Legal Question
intellectual property/copyright
I've been personalizing songs by rewriting lyrics of popular songs for birthdays, anniversaries, etc. and performing them at family gatherings for many years. I am thinking of turning the talent into a business, but don't want to run into problems with copyright infringement. I ''googled'' the topic, but much of the info pertains to the group 2 Live Crew and their vulgar parody of Pretty Woman. My use of songs is less about lampooning or ridiculing the original material, and more about merely using the music to support the poems I write (sort of like Mad Magazine's ''sung to the tune of'' material). None of my words would reflect negatively on any other individual's creative property or cause them any embarrassment. which, according to what I read online, is a big contibuting factor to the bringing of lawsuits against those who diminish their reputation or brand. I'd like to know if there is anything I need to do legally to avoid any problems, or can I merely proceed to write, sell and possibly perform the parodies. Note: Sometimes I perform them with my guitar, and sometimes I use karaoke tracks. If I record a song on tape/CD and sell it, I imagine that's the potential issue. Can anyone shed light on this for me so I can get started?
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Read More Answered By: William Frenkel |
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