Discussion Thread

 Hi,

I have tricky legal question involving rights/use that wasn't addressed in the book, and to which I can not find a clear answer elsewhere on the internet:

I've written a song that is very clearly based on the framework of Leonard Cohen's "Chelsea Hotel No.2".  I'd have already sought the standard sort of permission one gets when having done a cover, but mine isn't a cover at all  Only the melody and chord structure stayed the same - I used only one line of the original lyrics, added a verse to each half of the song, and changed the meaning entirely.  I would have used my own music, but in this case there was no better way to tell my story.  It's not a tribute or a cover, it's mine, but I'm indebted to the original songwriter for his work, and want to do the right thing, legally and ethically.

So what do I do with this thing?  I've made it available for listening on MySpace, but disabled the download feature.  I want to be free to do with this song as I will, but don't know exactly how to go about clearing it, legally.

In case you need to hear it in order to get a sense of why I'm in the grey with this one, go to my MySpace page at www.myspace.com/mytigerluck - it's the first song available for play, titled Chelsea Hotel No.532.

Any and all help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Damon

(p.s. - can't embed a link using html?)

I can't dispense legal advice, but I can talk about the law...

Adding new lyrics in place of the ones of an existing copyrighted song is known as an example of a "derivative work". We talk briefly about derivative works on page 193-194. Basically, a derivative work is a work that is based on a previous work. 

To obtain a license to make a derivative work, U.S. copyright law states you need the permission of the copyright holder. To learn more about derivative works, read this circular prepared by the U.S. Copyright Office. 

This is in contrast to obtaining a license for a cover version (one where the music and lyrics are kept intact). For covers, we recommend using Harry Fox's SongFile service as it's point-and-click convenient (when they have the song in their catalog). Harry Fox makes it clear that they can't license derivative works - see Question 17 in their FAQ here. 

Of course, the standard legal disclaimer is needed here: whenever it comes down to applying legal information to your own situation (i.e. getting legal advice), we recommend you consult a lawyer.