Do I need to get copyright permissions for song arrangement?
By Yahoo User • Category:I’m an independent musician, and I’m just putting out my first album (a Christmas album). I’m planning on doing Little Drummer Boy, Do You Hear What I Hear, and It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas on it. There’s nothing extremely special about the arrangements–it’s just an acoustic guitar playing around the chords plus a vocal. What qualifies as “song arrangement”? Do I need song arrangement permissions separate from my Harry Fox stuff?
You might want to check with the U.S. Copyright Office first, just to be safe….I am thinking that you might have to. You can check their website for more info…..that is…if you are in America of course. Not sure about other countries.
Like others said, check with US Copyright Office to find out if the songs are still copyrighted, and by whom. Before recording you need to make sure you have their permission: they may or may not want royalties, etc, so talk to them. Doesn’t matter if you’re selling these recordings or not. Good luck!