I have all this software for music editing and learning bass tracks. The soundwave would not be copyrighted, but trying to sell a soundwave called "The Beatles - Tomorrow Never Knows Soundwave T shirt " is infringement.
I have all this software for music editing and learning bass tracks. The soundwave would not be copyrighted, but trying to sell a soundwave called "The Beatles - Tomorrow Never Knows Soundwave T shirt " is infringement.
subbase (31-03-2017)
Ahh.....so basically having the soundwave without the artist name and song would be ok but including the song and artist on the tshirt would make it illegal. that makes sense, but what about having a soundwave design with a part of a lyric from the song, like the chorus for example? Or just the name of the song? Or only the artist name? Still infringement? I am trying to learn about copyrights and trademarks atm and tbh, it is quite confusing to me lol
I have a t-shirt with sound wave of my favourite song without the song name and artist. Just got it as the present.
I assume it is not a problem to wear such t-shirt.
Can I just say here that you could put ANY waveform on the shirt, even random white noise, and who would really know any different? You might get one shirt from 10,000 returned as 'not as described' but at least you won't get done for copyright.
There are loads of these shirts for sale on the net and I bet no one checks the authenticity of the waveform they are paying for.
"Lyrics and Music Copyright Lennon and McCartney."Ahh.....so basically having the soundwave without the artist name and song would be ok but including the song and artist on the tshirt would make it illegal. that makes sense, but what about having a soundwave design with a part of a lyric from the song, like the chorus for example? Or just the name of the song? Or only the artist name? Still infringement? I am trying to learn about copyrights and trademarks atm and tbh, it is quite confusing to me lol
So you can't reproduce those lyrics on a commercial product or trade off the reputation of the band's name as this is also infringement. A sound wave is just a graphic illustration.
@webtrekker As a musician and someone who's done loads of music editing, I'd know my own song as a soundwave. I could recognise the quiet parts, loud parts and the beat if it was isolated enough.
There is a guy who went on to Record Breakers? or something similar and could identify every single piece of classical music just by looking at the grooves on an LP record...now that's talent!
Last edited by GoonerGary; 31-03-2017 at 11:41 AM.
subbase (31-03-2017)
Hi Gary. I'm a guitarist myself and have also done loads of editing, and I get what you mean, providing it was the whole song in the waveform, but I doubt whether anyone could recognise a section of a song, even if it was their own, simply from viewing a printed waveform. Lots of these t-shirts have only part of the waveform displayed, making it very difficult to determine the song.@webtrekker As a musician and someone who's done loads of music editing, I'd know my own song as a soundwave. I could recognise the quiet parts, loud parts and the beat if it was isolated enough.
Just out of curiosity, who can tell me the title, songwriter, or artist from this full-length waveform I've just saved from Audacity? (Free mug for the winner! Competition closes Sunday 2/4/2017 at midnight.) ...
Good luck!
I was going to say Song 2 by Blur, but the first half in your soundwave is noisier after the first chorus. But it's got to be a song I recognise if I'm going to get my free mug. Can we have a better prize? I've got thousands of mugs here already.
Quinsfan (31-03-2017)
LOL. @Gary and webtrekker.....As a musician + music producer myself, I have also edited tons of waveforms and you both have very good points. I guess if I was marketing to the general public, then what webtrekker is saying is true, I could put white noise on it and then I won't have to worry about the infringement, but if I was marketing to more music savvy people, they may be able to tell the difference, but probably very unlikely though, I would think? I mean, I would definitely loose webtrekker's competition and I stare at waveforms all the time.
If I was marketing to an audience in a very specific music niche such as musicians or music producers and planned on creating waveforms that were very specific, such as a waveform for a sine or square wave or something similar, then I don't know if I would be able to get away with just putting any random waveform on a shirt or whatever as those that I am marketing to would be more educated, right?
Would I be breaking any laws by printing out waveforms of say a sine or square wave? Unlike a song by an artist, those are very generic sounds and wouldn't be copyrighted, correct? Also, if I cannot put the artist name and song title on the shirt, mug, etc. then what would be the appeal? I can't see someone wanting to just buy a substrate with just a random waveform and no title of what it is, right? Or am I completely wrong here?
I've seen t's on Redbubble and elsewhere with just a waveform and no text. I've also seen t's with a song waveform and something like 'Daddy's Favourite Song' printed underneath. So there are other ways to tackle this.
@Gary - how about a choice between a mug or an A4 dyesubbed aluminium wall clock?
subbase (31-03-2017)
I've got a mountain of sub metal and silent German clock parts too. Just put me out of my misery, save me loading up Sound Forge.
Last edited by GoonerGary; 01-04-2017 at 10:44 PM.