KVR Audio

pHz · Post by **pHz** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 11:51 am

... what would be the situation regarding copyright on a 30 year old recording of a martin luther king speech (i have no idea of the source of the recording) ???

... my intended track submission for the KVRaudio asia CD uses an excerpt from a speech as a central thematic (rather than structural) element and i wouldnt want to jeopardise the whole project by having a dodgy sample on there

thanks

slainte

rob

stefancrs · Post by **stefancrs** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 11:55 am

I have a dream!

pHz · Post by **pHz** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 11:59 am

no not that one ...

slainte

rob

CypherOne · Post by **CypherOne** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 12:01 pm

I have a feeling that copyright may be owned by the Luther King estate, but I could well be wrong. What I do know is that his voice seems to sit well with music, I've used one of his speeches myself a couple of years ago.

Peel · Post by **Peel** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 2:31 pm

Suggest googling some of the text of the speech to try to find out where it's from. If you can't confirm that it's been released into the public domain, it's probably not -- 30 years is not long enough.

Since it's a sound recording there would be two copyright holders -- 1) MLK / his estate, and 2) whoever made the recording. And I know MLK normally wrote his own speeches, but in case he didn't, there could be a 3rd holder (the writer).
The standard minimum length for copyright is the author's life + 50 years (the Berne / Universal Copyright Convention) although many countries have stricter terms (EG -- the US just repeatedly extends the length of copyrights so that they don't run out).
I would guess that MLK's estate keeps abreast of this sort of thing for image control. But it might be that, being a historic figure, someone has released some recordings of him into the public domain.
At this point, I'm pretty much talking out of my ass.

P.T. · Post by **P.T.** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 2:55 pm

I think it is 70 years.

The King estate is very quick to sue for royalties so be carefull.

I think they have even sued non-profit organizations.

I'd do some searches to find info on this.

pHz · Post by **pHz** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 3:03 pm

hmmmnnn ...

... i havent really got time to go into this in that depth so time to play safe i guess ...

... just either have to dump the sample and make nonsense of the track or find something else to submit i guess ...

slainte

rob

Hunter · Post by **Hunter** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 3:07 pm

pHz wrote:hmmmnnn ...

... i havent really got time to go into this in that depth so time to play safe i guess ...

... just either have to dump the sample and make nonsense of the track or find something else to submit i guess ...

slainte rob

Just record yourself saying the words, in your best impersonation voice. Pump enough FX on it and no one will notice. Or use speech synthsis software with the words... for that stephen hawkings stylee. Pretty useless suggestions i know but hey. To be honest i donth think youd get in trouble for using the sample, but its the principle really, isnt it.

vurt · Post by **vurt** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 3:09 pm

fuckit rob just do it!
if they sue they sue?
we get publicity for the cd then,plus we go on the run like billy n icky is "one summer" ey la!

scuzzphut · Post by **scuzzphut** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 3:11 pm

"one summer"

feckin' fanTASTIC bit of British drama. I *loved* that

thanks for reminding me, Vurt

herodotus · Post by **herodotus** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 5:19 pm

I do believe that if You don't make any money off of it,that it falls within the category of "Fair use"

In any case, I can't imagine anyone from he MLK estate being so curmudgeonly as to actually sue for royalties in the case of a charity project such as this

puerileboy · Post by **puerileboy** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 5:44 pm

pHz wrote:... what would be the situation regarding copyright on a 30 year old recording of a martin luther king speech (i have no idea of the source of the recording) ???

not that this is going to prove an immediate answer, but might check out the laws of public domain. There is something about political speeches being part of the public domain hence any Bush/Clinton/Bush/Reagan is fair game

Mighty_Hero · Post by **Mighty_Hero** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 10:33 pm

Remove that part only and do some similar words, or something like that.

bluedad · Post by **bluedad** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 10:36 pm

herodotus wrote:I do believe that if You don't make any money off of it,that it falls within the category of "Fair use"

In any case, I can't imagine anyone from he MLK estate being so curmudgeonly as to actually sue for royalties in the case of a charity project such as this

the King family is very tight regarding the use of anything to do with Martin. I wouldn't make assumptions.

P.T. · Post by **P.T.** » Fri Dec 31, 2004 11:30 pm

You could try asking the King estate for permission, stating what it is for and that you are on a short time schedule and therefore need a quick answer.

urgent !!! ... copyright question ...