MOTUnation.com

After uploading my completed album to CD Baby, I got a notice that I need to list one of my songs as Public domain if it was not 100% music & lyrics written by me. I used a public domain poem as lyrics but also include my own lyrics. They require you to check either "original" "cover" or "public domain". I had listed it (I thought) as original with the deceased poet as an additional songwriter since my own music and lyrics are obviously not public domain. Since no one is there to collect any publishing I don't imagine this being a legal issue as much as a moral one. I do want the poet to be equally credited though but when I rummage through iTunes and CD baby, I don't see songwriters even listed, only the recording copyright and artist. I have the poet listed in all of my liner notes and song descriptions and have been very clear it is built off of his poem but checking "Public domain" seems like I'm saying it is entirely his poem and I only arranged it, which is not true. You guys saved me before from including a part of a copyrighted song (THANK YOU!) but I thought public domain was no problem. I'm not even sure what checking public domain even does once it goes out into the digital world but I want to be careful just in case. Any insight on this would be so appreciated.

BTW, It's just fun for me to do this kind of stuff playing/intertwining with others words but from now on I'll think I'll just stick to my own lyrics!!

You can go to the copyright office site to get more info, but in a nutshell: you cannot re-copyright PD works, only the parts you add to them. In silent film this gets folks in a tizzy. They might spend many thousands of dollars restoring a film print for commercial distribution only to find that the only copyrightable aspect is what they've added.

So the new title cards are a visual work but the text in those cards remains PD. The restored print is their property but at best all they could recover from its use is the cost of the restoration, not infringement.

So if you use PD material you cannot claim any of it as your own. CD Baby and their lawyers are right on this one. It might suck in your opinion, but in 200 years you'll (hopefully) still be credited with your original work should someone use your then PD works.

CD Baby is not the Library of Congress. They do want to cover their ass completely and their rules reflect this. Understanding those rules and why isn't the same as agreeing with them.

There are rules and it's the LoC that makes them. The idea that you can't claim copyright if any part of a song if part of the lyrics are in the PD is nonsense. The membership department of your PRO can help here. They don't pay 100% on such works but they do pay - ASCAP has a department that decides such splits.

You need to file a correct, published Form PA for the song per the LoC rules for basing a work on material in the PD. Start there. Ask your PRO for help if you need it.

I can't advise you on how to handle CD Baby. There are other ways to distribute music. I'm about to release an album that I made in 1991 on CD. Every song on it is an arrangement of a song in the PD and I absolutely do get to copyright my arrangements and my original lyrics on a few of them. It's quite possible that I will run into the same issue and won't be able to use CD Baby for this beyond buying the codes.

It's not dissimilar to the Harry Fox Agency demanding all sorts of fees on top of the royalties that they want when you cover a tune and wish to issue a compulsory license. You must pay those extra fees if you pay online but you avoid them by simply sending a check and certified letter in the mail as per the LoC rules. Again, the HFA doesn't make those rules despite the official language on their web site.

I don't know if there's a similar workaround for CD Baby.

Exactly. What I posted is accurate. The PRO won't pay for the part that is PD. You can only copyright and collect on the original work - not for the parts that aren't original with you.

Thanks. I guess I'm happy then it's only one song. I dropped an email to BMI (my PRO) just to see what they say but it makes sense now that I think about it. I'm not sure if I messed up the electronic copyright application or not. I remember filling out the authors name and public domain but I'm not sure if it was correct, my print out doesn't show that.

If I'm correct, the sound recording is still 100% mine but there will be no copyright 'notice' in the electronic records for this song but a 'public domain' notice instead? I'll see what BMI says about my part in the lyrics.

It is interesting that iTunes lists only the Phonograph 'P' and not not Copyright 'C' like CD Baby does on the album descriptions. (and they don't include the Phonograph 'P') I wonder what the difference is. CD Baby sells physical CD's but iTunes not, maybe that is why. Hmm

Thanks again!

It's hard to respond cold without seeing specifics. How much have you actually quoted and how much have you revised the original? A well crafted theme and variations can be "self standing" in terms of copyright. You can even reference the name of the work in the title or variation thereof (titles are not copyrightable) and still may be able to claim the work as original in its entirety.

In this case it is the entire poem unaltered with only a single 'verse' of my own words. I have other songs that are more involved but not this one really so I'm fine with listing it that way.

Sounds like a safe bet.

But what about the music?

You can't copyright music. It's ALL stolen!

mikehalloran wrote:But what about the music?

They still listed me as equal for publishing. It ended up being a separate category where public domain was listed.

Hi! I was wondering how this situation panned out for you? I have a similar issue with CD Baby. Because my songs have elements of public domain (I used PD text and wrote new songs to them) they changed my submissions to “public domain” instead of “original composition” during the inspection process. I DO NOT want my songs listed in the public domain category and sent to streaming and download sites as public domain songs. . Especially since I have 100% ownership via ASCAP as songwriter and publisher of these songs. What ended up happening for you? Since CD Baby doesn’t have an option for these songs, I may have to pull the release and try a different distributor.

Back to what I wrote about ASCAP. There’s a department that will decide how much they will pay on a song when it’s based on works in the PD. You can look at the ACE database to see what the percentages are. To my knowledge, they’re the only PRO who has it posted this way (certainly the first) though BMI has announced they are doing the same (and may have by now). This is all gleaned from public announcements and does not involve me telling tales out of school.

CD Baby has some interesting rules and requirements. Again, they’re all designed to indemnify themselves from 3rd party infringements. Since they automate everything, you can’t get a live being to intercede and make the correct judgement. I prepare a lot of work that gets distributed on CD Baby but have never dealt with them directly.

They believe this business model works for them. If it doesn’t work for you, time to look elsewhere.

Julia123 wrote:It is interesting that iTunes lists only the Phonograph 'P' and not not Copyright 'C' like CD Baby does on the album descriptions. (and they don't include the Phonograph 'P') I wonder what the difference is. CD Baby sells physical CD's but iTunes not, maybe that is why. Hmm

Thanks again!

Just so it is explained in this thread somewhere:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_r ... ght_symbol

Terry