Hi richierichie,
"If I made a music trivia game for retail sale, and some of the
questions contained partial lyics to songs, say 4-8 words at the most,
would this be considered copyright infringement?"
Assuming the songs are not in the public domain, it is very possible
that just a few words of a song would be considered copyright
infringements, because not only is the "amount or quantity" of the
material considered in infringement cases, but also the "importance or
quality" of the material. In your case, although using a few words of
a song does not seem very substantial, presumeably those few words
will be enough to identify a song and so could be considered important
and an infringement.
5. IS IT OK TO USE A SMALL PIECE OF SOMEBODY ELSE'S MUSIC IN MY SONG?
"The obvious answer is yes, if you first obtain permission from the
copyright owner. Obtaining permission first is usually the best
(though not always the easiest) solution.
There is no simple rule concerning how much of a work may be taken
before it rises to the level of infringement. Obviously, the more a
work is copied, the easier it is to show substantial similarity.
Ultimately the test for infringement turns on the issue of quality,
rather than quantity. For instance, in determining whether one song
infringes on another, it is common for courts to look to whether the
"heart" of the song was taken. The heart of a song may be a memorable
melody, or an identifiable 2-chord guitar riff or just a few words
taken from the chorus. As a result, there is NO truth to the rumor
that sampling less than 4 bars is OK."
http://www.alankorn.com/articles/copyright_infringe.html
"Copyright legislation is designed to protect the creative, moral or
economic rights of the right holder. When copying any work it is
therefore important to consider whether or not the amount of material
being copied could be considered to prejudice the interests of the
rights holder or could be considered to be a substantial part of that
work. However, "substantial" does not necessarily relate to the
volume or amount of copying taken from an individual work. For
example, with song lyrics it could be argued that copying just a few
words or a sentence from a chorus could be taking a "substantial" part
of the work due to the importance of those sentences or words within
the work as a whole."
http://www.hull.ac.uk/lib/using_our_libraries/Support/Copyright/Copyright-quickguide.html
In regards to "fair use", I'm afraid you would be out of luck there
unless the use of your games are being made for the purpose of
criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple
copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research.
II.I. Fair Use
"Probably one of the most misunderstood concepts in copyright law is
fair use. This is a doctrine that provides a defense to copyright
infringement for some acts. But determination of whether or not
something is a fair use is fact-intensive. No particular act is
automatically fair use, and all four factors listed in Section 107
must be considered:
Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use
of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or
phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for
purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching
(including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or
research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether
the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the
factors to be considered shall include?
(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such
use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational
purposes;
(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;
(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation
to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of
the copyrighted work.
The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of
fair use if such a finding is made upon consideration of all the above
factors. {FN71: 17 U.S.C. §107}
http://digital-law-online.info/lpdi1.0/treatise13.html
§ 107. Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use
http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ21.pdf
I hope I've been able to clear this issue up for you. If you have any
questions, please post a clarification request and wait for me to
respond before closing/rating my answer. Please note the disclaimer at
the bottom of this page which explains that GA is for information and
is not intended to substitute for professional advice.
Thank you,
hummer
Search Terms Used (in addition to using my own bookmarks): copyright
infringement definition substantial using a few words |
