How many characteristics of a song can be reproduced in a new one without infringement? Is copying a song’s title and key (e.g. D major) enough?
How many characteristics of a song can be reproduced in a new one without infringement? Is copying a song’s title and key (e.g. D major) enough?
I’m not a lawyer and didn’t look anything up beforehand so I could be wrong but I’m pretty sure the only thing that is “protected” legally is the master recording of the song. Which is why things like covers and parodies are legally ok, even though they’re more or less direct copies of the song made by a different artist. But if you use the actual recording of a song (even if edited beyond recognition) it needs to be cleared by whoever owns the rights to the song.