SEASON 504- Music as an empathetic friend

[TCK]

Good news brothers and sisters- one of our friends here has matched my donation! I am over the moon with this gesture- this really is the best place. $70 becomes $140 in an instant!!!

 

[redpaul1]

That’s very strange - do we really claim that we own the rights to the songs we post? I’ve got to admit I’ve never noticed that. Beyond that though, she sounds like a brat - she probably was pissed that you did her song better than she could ever even hope to play it. My opinion of her just went from like “not much” to “thumbs DOWN” : (

I really don’t think much will come of this new legal “situation”. My guess is that you will get a warning from people like Michelle Shocked and be able to take down your video before any litigation or penalties would be imposed. I think most artists and even labels think of ukulele covers as compliments and perhaps even advertising (obviously Ms Shocked would not be among them- she seems like a bitter “Karen”- I’ll bet she spends her time alternately pacing around the house cursing out Sinead O’Connor and scouring the internet for people “stealing” her songs).

Anyone who would not be delighted to be covered by you is a pedant, in my book. Please don’t let this stop you from creating your wonderful videos.

Having done a bit of research, it seems the issue is between Shocked & Google, and that Liz, unfortunately, is collateral damage in that fight (incidentally, in the interests of research for this post, I've just uploaded a video I made of a boatride across Valetta Harbour, & checked very carefully at each stage to see if I was making any rights claim, implicitly or othewise. I wasn't & I'm sure Liz wasn't either). So, below is what you need to do to cover an MS song without any unpleasantries (you probably wouldn't want to after what happened with Liz, but you never know, & so just in case...)

In short: if you want to cover an MS song with no subsequent unpleasantries, you need to credit her in your description, & never in your cover's title. This, apparently, is to stop YT (Google) monetizing her material to Google's financial advantage:

As serious as she is about protecting copyrights, she also happens to be totally cool with unlicensed YouTube video covers of her songs, as long as the user respects two simple conditions. The first is that the video not be monetized with advertising because Shocked doesn’t want Google to earn revenue from her work without an agreement. In fact, because of her views on artists’ rights, she works to keep her own live and recorded performances off YouTube even though she is happy to let others publicly perform her songs on the platform. The second condition is that Shocked prefers that her name not appear in the video file title, but rather in the description crediting her as songwriter/composer. The reasons for this are myriad with regard to maintaining some control over search results (and even monetization) of her name, but suffice to say, it’s her prerogative and an easy enough condition to respect (Understanding DCMA with help from Michelle Shocked Jan 29 2016)

Commenting on this post, Florida's Nova Southeastern University's Office of Copyright had this to say:

So, any real “community” has to start with the proposition that you do not have the absolute right to copy and alter my work. If I do allow such activities, then please respect whatever restrictions I may place on them.

Michelle Shocked placed what seemed to be very reasonable and non-burdensome restrictions on the use of her songs, only to have a “fan” take a hyper-aggressive position of “fair use” that not only ignored her wishes, but is a position totally unsupported by existing law. In light of this, her position may change, and she might not allow any fan videos on YouTube [emphasis added]. Is that what the “community” wants? (http://copyright.nova.edu/fair-use-claims/ Mar 11 2016)

According to this article from The Dallas Morning News, Dallas-born alt-rocker Michelle Shocked makes few apologies for 'epic exploit': Jul 1, 2017, Shocked's concern/?paranoia for control over her material this goes all the way back to her 1986 breakout album 'The Texas Campfire Tapes', which might account for the chippiness in her response to Liz's cover.

Whether that chippiness was justified however, particularly if Liz did meet Shocked's accreditation criteria - or acceptable in any case - is another matter altogether.

 

[chris667]

Good news brothers and sisters- one of our friends here has matched my donation! I am over the moon with this gesture- this really is the best place. $70 becomes $140 in an instant!!!

What brilliant news! I wonder if anyone else will chip in?

 

[TCK]

What brilliant news! I wonder if anyone else will chip in?

I sure hope so! My kids at schools raised 400 and made goodie bags for the kids in the safe house today- they are so cool! We had community donations from all over for those bags. Such a great feeling to see them getting involved.

 

[chris667]

Bravo, kids!

Come on, the rest of you!

 

[ksiegel]

Okay, so I'm late, as I said I would be.
Did the video in my car, in the parking lot at a Doctor's Office this morning.
A 5-day overdue entry

I'm Easy ©1975 Keith Carradine
Keith won the Academy Award for Best Original Song - he wrote this for the movie "Nashville".

What does it mean for me?
Well, nearly 40 years ago, I was infatuated with someone, and sometimes my feelings were returned, sometimes they weren't
even acknowledged, and sometimes I was rejected out of hand.

She had her own issues, I learned, which included physical and psychological abuse, abandonment issues, and substance abuse -
probably due to all of the above.

This song was one of the best descriptions of our relationship.

We are on good terms now; she has a super-supportive partner, I have a wonderful spouse, and when we
need to be there for each other, we have the internet.

 

[TCK]

I really appreciate that fact that you fine people have taken up my cause the way you have, know that if you find a song a bit late, it still means a donation is made. As posted on the YouTube’s tonight-
Ksiegel- Dammit- I don’t care what time it is in Hawaii, just glad to hear this song and to have you here old friend. Beautiful song, thanks for playing it for us
Thank you all and bless up- Dave

 

[TCK]

Thanks all for the continued dms on how to personally contribute directly. Faith in humanity restored

 

[ginnystring]

Incredibly mentally, bravo. I also really like your thoughts while creating this wonderful music, they are full of meaning, but at the same time nothing is clear. These thoughts, they are philosophical. I really understand you, because I work as a pianist, play in various bars, such as 강남셔츠룸. And you know, at first it was very difficult for me to play when a lot of people were looking at me, but then I learned not to pay attention to the environment. I imagine in my head that I flew into space, into infinity, where it is dark at all 360 degrees, and perfect silence reigns. And with these thoughts, I usually play around 5 minutes. It seems that these 5 minutes pass in 5 seconds, sometimes during the game I even forget that I am in the establishment, and not the only one at home.

 

[TCK]

Incredibly mentally, bravo. I also really like your thoughts while creating this wonderful music, they are full of meaning, but at the same time nothing is clear. These thoughts, they are philosophical. I really understand you, because I work as a pianist, play in various bars, such as 강남셔츠룸. And you know, at first it was very difficult for me to play when a lot of people were looking at me, but then I learned not to pay attention to the environment. I imagine in my head that I flew into space, into infinity, where it is dark at all 360 degrees, and perfect silence reigns. And with these thoughts, I usually play around 5 minutes. It seems that these 5 minutes pass in 5 seconds, sometimes during the game I even forget that I am in the establishment, and not the only one all.

Not sure what you are on about here Ginny…