I Got a Strategy for selling mixtapes...but is it legal???

[dvyce]

WOW ...

Are any of you guys up on the mixtape scene ??? It's still up and
running and doing well ... Tapes are still being sold left and right
on the net and it's not going away anytime soon ... The people
who are going down are the bootleggers who are giving the mixtape
scene a bad rep and to the RIAA they bunch it up as all the same.
If your out slanging album cuts all over a mixtape and it's selling MEGA
copies of course their gonna look at you (If your moving thousands of
copies). Those tracks have copyrights and are sold in stores and their
going to want their money.

So, your point is that it is illegal but you probably will not get caught?

OK. I guess there are a lot of illegal things you can do with a low probability of being caught.

...that does not make it legal though.

But what about the tons of tracks that are done and just given to
DJ's and just put out there ? Or done specifically for mixtapes or just
put out on the net ? Those songs aren't owned by labels ...

It's a grey area

No.

it is not a "gray area"

It is not legal to use the music which is not owned by you without permission.


Even if a "label" does not own it, SOMEBODY OWNS IT.

...and that SOMEBODY is NOT YOU.

Do you see how this goes?


Do you think "unsigned artists" are free for the taking?


Is it OK for someone to steal your car because it is just your car and not a company car?

But mixtapes ain't going away and as long as your
not bootlegging joints your good. Have you never seen people walking
down the street selling mixtapes ? Do regular officers arrest them for
selling mixtapes ? No lol ...

The fact that you do something illegal and do not get arrested does not make your actions magically "legal."

Their are legalities to it but their are lupoles
as well

There are NO LOOPHOLES.

Escaping capture is not a "loophole."

you just have to know whats what. if your worrying about it you
probly not THAT BIG anyway ... They dont fry the small fish they go
after the big ones selling thousands of copies and moving lot of units.

Also DJ Drama & Don Cannon are not in jail & they haven't been
pressed with any charges yet either as of right now and it's been
a min since their arrest ... And Drama just released a new mixtape !

you can dress it up however you want. The fact is, it is illegal to put songs you do not own on a mixtape other than one for your own private use.

 

[trezza]

I think a quick recap of what a copyright is needs to be brought up.

When you make something - music, a drawing, a photo, a poem, whatever it is, you own the copyright to it the second you make it. You can pay a small fee to the govt to register it as yours in the unfortunate event that someone else uses it without your permission. It helps your case, but is not required.

A copyright is the right you have to control what you made. You can dictate when, where, and how it's used. If you write a play and don't like a particular production of it, you can shut the production down (it's been done). A music copyright is the same. The author of the song, as well as the author of the sound recording have copyright privileges. They dictate the what, where, and how for their music. You do not have that right, *ever*, unless you ask and receive permission - usually written.
Whether money exchanges hands is irrelevant to the right.

For this reason, you cannot use all or part of someone else's song without asking. You cannot give it away, you cannot sell it. You cannot play it. There is not as much enforcement in this area, because copyright police are usually after bigger and easier targets. Nonetheless, if you want to operate within the law, you need to ask first.

The only exception to this is fair use for educational purposes, i.e. school work.

 

[Triple I]

damn...that sucks...tha only I'm trying to use industry is to save up my beats for albums...cuz I don't be one of those ppl...with str8 album cuts on my mixtape...that isn't entertaining...lol...due to tha fact that the ppl are gonna have the same ass songs available when the album is released...

for all the people that keep pushing the fact that giving away mixtapes with other people's beats illegal...Are the DJs like J-Armz and Black Jesus that release instrumental CDs setting us up to do illegal activity by providing us with industry instrumentals...I'm assuming that DJs like them got permission from the producers that made those beats since they are always credited on the tracklist...but tell me...is that basically setting people up to be illegal?

 

[trezza]

for all the people that keep pushing the fact that giving away mixtapes with other people's beats illegal...Are the DJs like J-Armz and Black Jesus that release instrumental CDs setting us up to do illegal activity by providing us with industry instrumentals...I'm assuming that DJs like them got permission from the producers that made those beats since they are always credited on the tracklist...but tell me...is that basically setting people up to be illegal?

It may be that those artists are encouraging their music to be heard as part of a larger marketing strategy. Or they may want to encourage kids to imitate the big boys by allowing them to make their own tape for fun. Just because *you* want to sell them or play it in the club doesn't mean that everyone who makes mixes does. A solid 50% of all music artists (based on my research) are just fooling around. They make music for fun and a few friends at home. At that level, making a mixtape for yourself from legally bought music is perfectly legal. That's fair use. When you play mixtapes at a party, at a business, in public, or when you sell or give away the CDs anywhere or to anyone, that falls into a different category where copyrights come into force. Putting them on the net is not fair use, even if only you and a few friends know it's there.

Whatever the reason, you don't know what the limits are until you ask. And asking is free.

Oh, BTW, if you DJ at a party, any music played counts as a public performance, and performance rights fees have to be paid to the songwriter by the establishment hosting the party via BMI/ASCAP/ or some other performance rights organtization. That's separate and in addition to getting permission to write a derivitave work (i.e. a mixtape).

 

[Bondizzo]

okay what if you own all the copyrights of the work and you bootleg your own stuff and sell a few thousand copies, will they come after you since you making money without being signed ?

 

[dvyce]

okay what if you own all the copyrights of the work and you bootleg your own stuff and sell a few thousand copies, will they come after you since you making money without being signed ?

This question is soooo ridiculous that I find It hard to believe it is serious... (but just in case)


You can't bootleg your own material... Are you going to release it without giving yourself permission?

 

[TracAssassinLokk]

This question is soooo ridiculous that I find It hard to believe it is serious... (but just in case)


You can't bootleg your own material... Are you going to release it without giving yourself permission?

My Thoughts Exactly... Its not illegal to sell your own music, unless you have HELLA samples on it... even then without heavy airplay, no one will ever know... 3'6 did it for years with their underground tapes, and people still dont know about it

 

[hackenslash]

Still illegal, no matter what anyone says. You are in breach of international intellectual property law even if you give the stuff away. The law doesn't talk about selling, it talks about distribution.

You would still be opening yourself up for a copyright infringement suit.

 

[dvyce]

The idea of "bootlegging your own material" makes as much sense as "getting arrested for sexually assaulting yourself because you scratched your own balls without consent."


[meaning: it is not possible]

 

[hackenslash]

If the material belongs to you, ie you wrote it, there is no breach of the law. It is only the distribution of somebody else's material that is illegal. There is no law that says you have to be signed to a label to sell your music.

Such a law would be ridiculous. Dickens said "the law is an ass", but it's never been that stupid.

 

[Pure Hype Production]

Illegal is a sick bird LOL

 

[hackenslash]

Illegal is a sick bird LOL

:no: :spank:

 

[Triple I]

so i guess the safest way to sell mixtapes is with original beats...that you have permission to use...Legislature sucks...lmao...

it sucks on both sides since when I use their instrumentals...that's free publicity for both of us...but it is what it is...

 

[doitforthedream]

mayne dats bootleggin **** dat

 

[MadTiger3000]

The idea of "bootlegging your own material" makes as much sense as "getting arrested for sexually assaulting yourself because you scratched your own balls without consent."


[meaning: it is not possible]

Well, uh, in certain circumstances, you could scratch inadvertently and be charged with indecency. Haha.

Anyway, if you are in a business relationship with a record label, for a traditional deal, or distribution only, you actually can bootleg your own material. You would be bypassing normal distribution channels, and cutting them out of their contracted right to profit.

 

[dvyce]

Anyway, if you are in a business relationship with a record label, for a traditional deal, or distribution only, you actually can bootleg your own material. You would be bypassing normal distribution channels, and cutting them out of their contracted right to profit.

I hope you understand how this is completely different from the question that was asked and from the issue at hand.

 

[MadTiger3000]

I hope you understand how this is completely different from the question that was asked and from the issue at hand.

Of course, I understand. That's why I replied by quoting YOU, and illustrating how you were in error. No biggie. I can Google up artists who have bootlegged themselves, and you can.... Hell, I don't know how you would respond.

Let's just leave it at that.

Max Kellerman: "Next topic."

 

[dvyce]

Of course, I understand. That's why I replied by quoting YOU, and illustrating how you were in error. No biggie. I can Google up artists who have bootlegged themselves, and you can.... Hell, I don't know how you would respond.

Let's just leave it at that.

Max Kellerman: "Next topic."

OK, well, in reality where the question I was answering was this:

okay what if you own all the copyrights of the work and you bootleg your own stuff and sell a few thousand copies, will they come after you since you making money without being signed ?

Ya know... the situation where he owns all the copyrights himself and is not signed to any record deal, distro deal, or anything else... and wants to know if he can get in trouble for "bootlegging" because he is "making money without being signed"...

And, as you know, I responded by telling him it does not work that way... which, of course, is 100% correct.



But sure, in your made up fantasy scenario where you take my response and attach it to a completely unrelated question, of course my response does not make sense.


...I guess it is my mistake for thinking you were relating my answer to the actual question I was answering.

...how silly of me.

 

[MadTiger3000]

Watch how you word things.

Words like always, never, only, can't, etc. are very powerful. Use with caution.

 

[dvyce]

Watch how you word things.

Words like always, never, only, can't, etc. are very powerful. Use with caution.

Make sure you take peoples quotes in context.



If you take things out of context, you can manipulate anything to mean whatever you want.

...and If you are going to use my quotes out of context in that way, please do not have a wiseass response when I try to explain that to you.