Yamaha DTXpress/DTXplorer/DTXtreme

Copyright is always a tricky subject. First, IANAL and so I do not give
legal advice. That being said... :)

There are two aspects of copyright, one is "theoretical" and one "real
life". Lets start with the "theoretical":

In this case, the MIDI itself may be copyrighted. If it's not, (i.e. its
an original composition or a piece that has passed into the public domain
like a beethoven symphony), then you hould be able to re-record it and
upload it.

If the MIDI is a composition by a known artist (lets say it's "tush by
ZZTOP) then there are two copyrights here. 1st, the composer's copyright
and secondly, the person who "performed" the MIDI file.

So, to use this, you would have to have clearance from ZZ-Top AND the
person who composed the MIDI file.

Now, lets deal with reality...  :)

If you want to play some music, record it and share it with the group to
get feedback on your abilities, this could be considered an "educational"
use of the material and would grant quite a bit of leeway to you. Also,
in most cases, if the copyright holder objects to your use, they will
simply notify you of their feeling that you have infringed and ask you to
"cease and desist" (legal speak for "cut it out and don't do it again!).

So, in short, it would seem that the use you described would be a "fair
use" educational recording. Read about "fair use" here:

http://www.eff.org/IP/eff_fair_use_faq.html

or for a REALLY long, detailed resource, go here:

http://fairuse.stanford.edu/

IMHO you should be able to record and post your MP3 as long as it was not
for sale and as long as you included the original copyright holders
information... :)

Vern

PS: Remember I am NOT a lawyer, so this is not legal advice, it is only
idle chatter from a deranged mind... :P

-- 
Vern Graner CNE/CNA/SSE    | "If the network is down, then you're
Senior Systems Engineer    | obviously incompetent so why are we
Texas Information Services | paying you? Of course, if the network
http://www.txis.com        | is up, then we obviously don't need
Austin Office 512 328-8947 | you, so why are we paying you?" \ufffdVLG




shuman_jr said:
> My question is: If I download a free midi from the internet, delete
> the drum and bass tracks, record the drums (with my dtxpress I), have
> a friend lay down the bass track, then compile and come up with a MP3
> that I upload to this group for someone to listen to, would I be
> breaking any copyrights?  Whew sorry for the long question.  Thanks.
>
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