MIDIs & Copyright ...

A frequently upcoming question is "Who has the copyright to a MIDI?" In general there are two copyrights on a MIDI - one copyright is that of the artist or the record company, the other copyright is that of the author who sequenced or programmed the MIDI. In most cases the MIDI author has not the permission of the artist or the record company to publish a song as MIDI - so rughly said, all what we are doing in a.b.s.m is criminal ,-) But most of the artists and record companies are tolerateing this - maybe they see it as some kind of free promotion. There are some exceptions like Jean Michelle Jarre, who just started a campaign to stop the spreading of his work via Internet & Co - for details click here. Some of the guys with JMJ MIDIs on her pages were forced by them to delete all the files from the sites...

Most of the MIDI authors and sequencers dont knock on their copyright - they put the MIDIs into public domain or spreading them as freeware. However - when posting their MIDIs you should give credit to them. Add a "seq´d by <name of the sequencer>" or something like that to the subject line or inside the mail. Some authors/sequencers of MIDIs dont like the spreading of their work via a.b.s.m - have a look at the infos in the files (tools for that are listed later), locate their email address and ask for permission to post them in a.b.s.m - i've only got one single refusal until now. The majority of authors/sequencers are happy to see their MIDIs going into the world - dont forget to write them a little mail with comments about their work.

There are companies like Heavenly Music, Tune 1000 Corporation, Music Sales Ltd and others, who are selling "commercial MIDIs". They have the permission of the artist or record company to do so - and they have payed a lot of money for that. In addition they are spending a lot of time and another load of money in creating and selling the MIDIs. Unfortunatly a lot of this MIDIs are floating around in a.b.s.m - sometimes someone has deleted all the copyright info from the files so that they are hard to detect. On the other hand most users simply don't know how to make the copyright infos visible out off the file. However - posting this commercial MIDIs to a.b.s.m is a copyright violation and is not tolerated by the companies. Before posting a MIDI to a.b.s.m or before putting it on a web site, you should inspect the MIDI and clear up if it´s a commercial MIDI.

How to obtain the infos from the MIDI file?

There are two ways to clear up if a MIDI is a commercial one or not. The simple way is to use a tool which extracts the infos from a MIDI and prints them to the screen. I recommend using the GN-Tools from Günter Nagler, a genius guy who has done a lot of amazing tools for MIDIs. More Tools for this task are in the Tools for MIDI & Co section of this site - look for my 'GMI' and Alex´s 'MIDI Tool Box' there...

If you found some hints like company names or notes like "Not for transmission of any kind" or similar in the extracted infos, you´ll have a commercial MIDI - dont post it, delete it, you have no right to own it, because you have not payed for it!

The other way is to have a look at the following lists. I've started some months ago to collect infos about commercial MIDIs and manage them with a database (hey, Database Publishing works great :) ). Compare the title, artist, size and play time of the MIDI in question to the list - if there is any accordance with the infos in the list, you´ll have a commercial MIDI - dont post it, delete it, you have no right to own it, because you have not payed for it!

• List sorted by Title
• List sorted by Artist
• List sorted by Company

Please! I need your assistance and help in the maintenance of this lists! If you´re getting attention about a commercial MIDI not listed here, please send me a short mail with title, artist, size, play time and company name! Thanks! To do so, click here....

BTW: Of course you can use this lists also to locate a MIDI you´re looking for, contact the company selling it and place an order there ,-)

Related stuff...

	An email i received from Heavenly Music and which my clear up some of the aspects from another point of view. Click here to read it!
	Jean Michell Jarre started a campaign to stop the spreading of his work via Internet and related things.Click here to read more about this! The laywers of JMJ have contacted several web site owners in the past and forced them to delete all JMJ MIDIs and related stuff. Click here to read the email they are sending.
	A note from Laura´s MIDI Heaven which where contacted by the Harry Fox Agency. Click here to read more about this! Or click here to see how other people are trying to help...
	CNet News about the shut-down of OLGA, the Online Guitar Archive. Click here to read more about this!
	CNet News about the shut-down of the International Lyrics Server. Click here to read more about this! Here you´ll find the NMPA press release. Here's more about that on Wired News. And finally look at www.lyrics.ch for their own documentation...
	Some helpfull and interesting links: Music & Copyright An interesting collection of informations around this topic. Music and fair use Also very interesting infos, from the same guy who did the Music & Copyright infos. Fair Use of Copyrighted Works - A Crucial Element in Educating America This home page contains the electronic version of Fair Use of Copyrighted Works, a pamphlet published by CETUS. It was put together by the Working Group on Ownership, Legal Rights of Use and Fair Use of the CSU-SUNY-CUNY Joint Committee. It also contains links to fair-use guidelines and other resources that are intended to promote a fuller understanding and appreciation of copyright laws. United States Copyright Office General informations and publications which are of special interesst for MIDI composers. Benedict´s Copyright Site General informations and publications - and some very interessting stories about famous copyright violations and infringements ,-) Music Performance Rights on the Net Some kind of 'how to...' use musical resources, including MIDIs, on the I'net. 10 Big Myths about copyright explained An attempt to answer common myths about copyright seen on the net and cover issues related to copyright and USENET/Internet publication - by Brad Templeton. Terry Carroll's Copyright Resource Page & FAQ Lots of information regarding several aspects of copyrights... Die Auswirkungen der digitalen Technologie auf die Lizenz- und Inkassotätigkeit Informations from the German GEMA about Licenses and Internet...

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