MIDI Files legality

[RyanG]

Hey,

I found a midi file of Britney Spears' "Toxic" online, and I was wondering if it is illegal to distribute these. I have no idea if this is an "official" midi - but it's just a straight-up .mid file with no samples or instruments whatsoever. I wouldn't be using melodies or rhythms from this for my own songs, but it's interesting to see how these types of songs are put together.

So is this technically illegal?

Thanks

~Ryan

[BertKoor]

I found a midi file of Britney Spears' "Toxic" online, and I was wondering if it is illegal to distribute these. [...]

So is this technically illegal?

For you it IS illegal to distribute it. For the original site you got it from: it depends... It can be done totally legal afaik, if they bothered to go that route.

[derival]

yes its illegal.
Melodies are protected by copyright

[Optomadic]

So make sure you have the rights before you whistle it in front of more than 10 people or a van will pull up and a bunch of guys in masks will wisk you away to an interogation center .

[BertKoor]

Melodies are protected by copyright

Correct. But they may be published in another form, when all parties have agreed upon that. The legality of a midi file is the same as that of any cover version produced as regular audio.

So it's not always illegal. There are many legit midi file shops around. For example: http://www.tmfonline.com and their copyrights info page is http://www.tmfonline.com/eng/Privacy/

[MaliceX]

The whole issue with derived works and sequences is still a massive gray area. Especially since the majority of these MIDI's are compiled and sold into MIDI Karaoke DVD's in Asian countries with 10000+ songs to choose from...it makes you wonder.

Then again, at the most instances these aren't created by the official producers (with few exceptions but are usually recorded as sequential audio of some type, Guitar Hero?) Then there's the ringtone business, where the mobile companies are making loads from that franchise alone. Heck, some of them are in fact illegal if not are simply selling MIDI's downloaded straight from websites that provide it for free. (In the case of video game music sequences at vgmusic.com, some cases had been reported...)

In short, the market is so big, it's techically illegal since stealing melodies is obviously a big deal with these big money f**ks, yet so many songs use the same damned chord progression if not melody as well anyway? What's the diff?

Also, in most cases when people transcribe music in such a fashion like this, I've even seen people sell unauthorized instrumentals. How come there's no court cases for that?

PS: Remember. Timbaland is a poser as well. Taking a sequence that isn't his and selling it through his own music.

[MaxSynths]

Illegal. Is it legal when you buy MIDI files from authorized sellers.

[Kriminal]

MIDI files arent usually by the original author, they are made by someone who just copies what they think is the song, most arent reliable versions.

[nunchi]

if you buy it in legal store and the copyrigh owner gets his money, its legal

[nesvarbu02]

no it's not, unless you are using it for non comercial use!

[BertKoor]

no it's not, unless you are using it for non comercial use!

But the same applies to any compact disk or mp3 or iTune you buy... It's all stated in the fine print. Lending, hiring, broadcasting, public performance etc etc prohibited.

[MaliceX]

In Yamaha MySound (www.mysound.jp), a Japanese music distribution site on the vein of Myspace, allows the uploading of cover versions of music whether it be audio or MIDI, and allows for stream playback but will not allow actual file download on the user-end. (Original material I think the user gets to decide, or is allowed otherwise.) The rumor is, Yamaha will pay for royalties for cover version transcriptions uploaded onto their service.