This might not be the correct community, but if anyone knows anything about dmca and the like here, i guess it is you guys!
I am wondering what is likely to happen if i made a blog where i would make songs available? Not in a “here are a thousand albums to download for free”, but more discussing a single song in a blog post and embedding it in a playable state (and thus also downloadable) served directly from my server (and not some spotify / soundcloud / whatever link).
The blog would not be anonymous, it would be possible to trace the server and everything directly to me. Blog would likely be obscure and not grow much. There would be no ad revenues. I am based in norway (in europe, not in the eu but in the eea in case you are not aware).
Am i looking at a couple of dmca takedown requests, legally enforceable fines, lawsuits? I dont expect to get legal advise i can use as a basis for my defense in a potential legal case in the future, but just wanted to know if you had any insights in what could happen.
I don’t understand how you could have such an idea:
- playable state: bad, downloadable: worse
- not anonymous: lol what?
- no ad revenues: irrelevant
- the best that can happen is it’s taken down, the worst is you lose money
it is not to facilitate piracy
You said it would be downloadable, which one is it?
You don’t have the rights to do this, the owners don’t want you to do this, why would you do this with your real name?
obligatory disclaimer that i am not a lawyer and this isn’t legal advice.
legal answer:
i think distributing a song in full on your blog is pretty unambiguously copyright infringement. i think having select snippets that you highlight and talk about would be fine though, as that would likely fall under using the work for critisism. the general rule for fair use is that your work should not replace or supersede the original (which uploading the song in full could). if you absolutely need the songs to be accessible in full, you would probably need to link to something like a streaming service. also be aware that things like album covers might be considered their own works under their own copyright, so reproducing that without critique could also constitue infringement.practical answer:
i don’t think there are scrapers on the general internet looking for copyrighted content so if you’re sufficiently small and/or the artists are sufficiently lenient you’ll probably be fine, and at worst you’ll get a cease and desist and take down the tracks they complain aboutEither they tell you very sternly to stop, and you do. If not, they may take action, either against you or your host. They can’t do much from another country but they can negotiate with your country to bring you into their jurisdiction. Or they may take action with you not there (it’s early, I believe in absentia is how they say it) and if you come into their jurisdiction they can do something. If you continue to violate their copyrights, they may (attempt to) take more drastic actions.
You might be physically and even financially safe, but it’s still not a bear I’d recommend poking when you could just link to YouTube and have the same effect.
I mean, if you want to facilitate piracy, that’s one thing, but don’t consult social media about it — consult a lawyer instead.
Either they tell you very sternly to stop, and you do. If not, they may take action, either against you or your host.
This is mostly what i am hoping will happen - that the first step is always going to give me a chance to comply with a request to remove it.
I mean, if you want to facilitate piracy, that’s one thing, but don’t consult social media about it — consult a lawyer instead.
On the contrary, it is not to facilitate piracy (as in the goal is not to serve files for illegal download), it will include links to legal avenues of purchase and download. Its just that i am thinking about a particular style of embedding this within a blog post that would require me to host the file on my own server - and then that song would be downloadable for anyone who want to (even though i have no explicit “download button”).
If the song is on youtube or something else that you can embed, you could just outsource the responsibility.
Well DMCA doesn’t apply outside of the US. Lawyers continually try to enforce it abroad, though, so be sure you pick a web host that adheres to Norwegian law only.
I don’t think that Norway is one of the countries that look the other way when it comes to DMCA requests (which are only valid under US law), but they aren’t required to. However, what I would do is go ahead and then wait for the DMCA request. I think you could then decide what action to take going forward.
You could provide links to YouTube, SoundCloud, Qobuz and loads more like ReverbNation (mainly for new/upcoming artists), with links to online tools for downloading etc.
Or something like Radio4000
or
However, what I would do is go ahead and then wait for the DMCA request. I think you could then decide what action to take going forward.
Id be fine taking stuff down if there was a request, but id then want to only take down whatever song/songs triggered the request. Just dont wanna be on the hook for a lot of fines before i had the chance to respond.
You could provide links to YouTube, SoundCloud, Qobuz and loads more like ReverbNation (mainly for new/upcoming artists), with links to online tools for downloading etc.
The idea is to make it pretty integrated and keep things inside the blog post with a simple player widget. And im not a big fan of spotify and youtube etc so would want to avoid linking to them if possible. I intend to include links for legal purchase and downloads of the song (+ full album and any other thing from the same artist/band, on qobuz or bandcamp and similar sites that sell drm-free music).
i guess it depends on how famous your blog is and what kind of song you share.
