HELP! Copyright Problem! Copyright office e-mailed me! :(

[suezq]

Hey, Taxi friends! HELP! I need some help/advice please. I'm getting ready to re-record some of my kids' albums so they will be broadcast quality, etc. My first big project will be "McMeow, the Crime Kitty," which I created back in 1994. McMeow helps kids to say no to drugs, crime, etc. You can see pics of McMeow here:

https://sites.google.com/site/oldtechch ... rime-kitty

Back in Nov. 2010 I send in my old rough-draft CD album to Register it.
Yesterday, on 6/8/11, I got THIS email from the US Copyright Office:

We are writing because of a question about the extent of this claim to copyright. The work you have submitted appears to contain material that has been previously registered or published, or is in the public domain. In such cases, the application must contain brief, general descriptions of both the preexisting material and the new material upon which the claim to copyright is based.

It appears that the preexisting material is “words and music of Judy In Disguise and Can’t Touch This” and the new material “all additional words and music, and entire sound recording.” If this is the case, please authorize us to add these descriptions to the registration record. Or, if these statements are not accurate, please provide us with brief descriptions of both the preexisting and new material.

Please note that if we do not receive a response to this message within 20 days, we will close this case without processing your registration or notifying you further, and forward your deposit copy(ies) under the provisions of the current copyright law. The fee is not refundable. If you re-apply for registration after the case is closed, you must send a new application, copy and fee. The effective date of registration will be based on the new submission.

Sincerely,

Neil Gladd
Registration Specialist
Performing Arts Division
U.S. Copyright Office

OKAY ... HERE WAS MY IMMEDIATE REPLY:

Dear Sirs,
I just received this email regarding my recent copyright submission for "McMeow, the Crime Kitty."
Re: [THREAD ID:1-A8WWFO]
All of the music and words in my album, "McMeow, the Crime Kitty," was written and recorded by myself back in 1994. I have not used anyone else's words or anyone else's music.It is all original.
If there is a problem, please let me know immediately by calling one of the following numbers: (Here I inserted 2 phone numbers.)

TAXI FRIENDS, I UPLOADED MY TWO SONGS THAT ARE IN QUESTION TO MY TAXI PAGE.

THE TWO SONGS IN QUESTION ARE: "Johnny Was a Jerk" and "Don't Touch Them."

http://www.taxi.com/suestraw

I had never even heard of "Judy in Disguise" when I wrote my song back in 1994. I listened to some of it on iTunes. Yes, the little motif appears to be "similar," but it is not the same.

I guess some type of new computer technology can "pick up" similarities. I guess I should have registered this back in '94 when I wrote it when these technologies didn't exist!

When I re-record this album, I guess I could come up with a "new motif" to substitute on this song, but how do I know that my "new motif" won't "sound similar to" another song?!

And as far as my rap song, "Don't Touch Them," goes, I don't know if they are talking about the title or the motif or what.

Okay, friends, any suggestions? Did I reply properly? Should I do something else?
What would YOU do if this happened to YOU? Like I said earlier, I AM getting ready to RE-RECORD everything, but I don't want to waste a lot of time and money only to have something "come up" again!

Am I worrying about this too much? I'd appreciate any advice you "experts" have!

Thanks!

Sue and McMeow!

[suezq]

As Holmes told Watson in A Study in Scarlet, "There is nothing new under the sun. It has all been done before."

And Holmes was, no doubt, referencing Ecclesiastes 1:9.

(Yes, I have been a Holmes nut since around 1974!)

[suezq]

I seem to remember hearing one time about some copyright guidelines (or law) about a certain "number of notes" (or something like that) that "could" be used from another musical passage without infringing on a copyright, but I don't remember what it was or where it was. I guess I'll have to research that, too.

[suezq]

For future reference for any interested, here is a Thesis on Music Sampling and Copyright Law, but it was written in 1999.

http://www.princeton.edu/~artspol/stude ... 0JLind.pdf

[fret17]

Hi suezq.....I just heard "Johnny was a jerk" and in my opinion....having been alive in the '60's when " Judy In Disguise" was released....I'll just say this....The chorus' front end melody is an exact match to the original....the arrangement also is scarry close to the overall sound of the original....even though your melody changes up later in the chorus ...the damage is already done and in my opinion is an unintentional rippoff of the original.....I would bet that anyone that was familiar with "Judy in Disguise" would immediately think of that song while listening to "Jonny was a Jerk"...and I think the writer's would have a case against you regardless of how many notes constitutes a copyright infringement....From what I have researched on the subject....each case is heard on an individual basis and is tried uniquely....but in the spirit of the law...as a guiding thread through each case...they look for the over all similarities and do they occur in the exact places in each song....so much so that you can't see a difference from the original...and I believe it's happening in this case unfortunately.....I suppose you could see an entertainment lawyer but that would cost more than the loss of the copyright fee...If you plan on making money with the song...I'd make a completely different song from it just to be on the safe side....my 2 cents....Good luck!

[suezq]

Fret 17,

Thanks for chiming in! I am a worry-wart, so I sure don't want to have something like this hanging over my head.

I appreciate your opinion and your help.

[fret17]

Suezq....I hope more members will chime in as it is an interesting topic as well as occurance...To have produced something that, in part, sounded that exact... to a hit from the sixties, WITHOUT, ever hearing the hit ....says to me you certainly have what it takes...all the best in your career!

[suezq]

Thanks, Fret! You're a doll!

I was researching that song a bit and saw where it may have been released in '68. If so, I would have been 10 years old. I'm not sure what all I was listening to in 5th grade, but I can say that I have "absorbed" a lot of music in my lifetime!

I hope someone will shed some light on why my kids' rap song, "Don't Touch Them" may have been singled out. Yes, I am sure that when I wrote that I was thinking of MC Hammer's song, but I don't think mine is anything like his. It would be REALLY easy to change the "motif" on that song. It is only 7 notes. And actually, I could re-do it with NO NOTES at all if I wanted to.

Thanks again!

[sedge]

Am I worrying about this too much? I'd appreciate any advice you "experts" have!

Hi Sue and McMeow, no expert needed! These are both direct and very obvious matches of very popular songs.
The best you could do is contact the publishers/writers to grant you a cover version (with changes) licence?

Its cool to know that the system works though hey!
I always wondered how do they know from the millions of songs out there , mistakes and like you say "absorb" can happen.

Sedge

[suezq]

Thanks, Sedge, for your input!

Regarding "Johnny Was a Jerk," I may decide to "rework" it and change that motif and possibly make some other changes.

Regarding "Don't Touch Them," I'm not sure yet. But I think I might "change" those 7 notes or just take them out completely. And I might elect to change the rhythm on the words, "don't touch them," to 3 quarter notes with a "rest" on beat one.

If I was rolling in dough, I'd have a music atty. look at this, but I'm not. So ... we'll see.

Thanks again! I appreciate your thoughts and comments.

(Meow!)