RE: [microsound] what is the legal position?

[ian stewart <artsonics@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

> for releasing a non-profit album full of uncleared samples?

I'm not a lawyer, but I've spoken to a couple of copyright lawyers about 
this type of thing. This is my understanding of the legal situation, but 
it's obviously not a pro legal opinion, and could be wrong on one or more 
counts:

The fact that your project is non-profit isn't particularly important. The 
salient legal issue is the 'moral rights' of the author, i.e. the author's 
right to preserve the integrity of his or her work, and to control its 
dissemination. If you were sued, the claim would be for damage to artistic 
reputation and/or damage to the integrity of the artwork, and the damages 
sought wouldn't be correlated with the money you earned from the album. 
While it's very unlikely to succeed in court unless you had a brilliant 
lawyer, it may be possible to claim 'fair use' depending on your use of 
samples (and while 'fair use' is terminology specific to US law, as far as I 
understand, related provisions exist in other countries- the law varies a 
lot in the details from country to country). Limited quotation for the 
purpose of criticism (among other purposes) is, in theory, protected in 
American law, but I believe that particular provision was intended to cover 
textual quotation, not musical quotation.

Now, whether anyone would find out about your work, or care enough to pursue 
legal action, is another question entirely. But John Oswald, Negativland, et 
al, probably expected to fly below the radar as well, and that's not quite 
what happened (although Craig Baldwin was litigation-free last I heard).

all the best,
Ian



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