[Year 12 IPM] music copyright

Thu Nov 16 21:47:12 EST 2006

We need to be careful to not put out misinformation about these 
contentious issues. According to my reading of the Age report, singing, 
or even recording, Happy Birthday is not an offence but posting the 
recording onto a website may be an offence.

Charmaine Taylor
Sunbury Downs College

Roland Gesthuizen wrote:

> An Age newspaper report 
> <http://www.theage.com.au/news/phones--pdas/soon-recordings-will-be-a-crime/2006/11/14/1163266532880.html>has 
> briefly discussedsome of the changes to Australian copyright 
> legislation. Police would be able to go to a market, find people 
> selling pirated CDs and issue fines on the spot.  Internet Industry 
> Association has stated that these changes have gone too far and 
> activities that could attract fines include playing a radio in the 
> park or even recording a group of students singing a song then sharing 
> it online. It is an interesting issue that can be discussed in the 
> classroom.
>
> You need written permission from Time Warner 
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Warner> to sing Happy Birthday, the 
> copyright will expire in 2030 
> <http://plakboek.livejournal.com/55478.html> and if I am correct, 
> there will be no fair-use provisions in the legislation as it is 
> currently drafted. Singing Happy Birthday at a restaurant, a party or 
> any gathering is considered to be a public performance, even humming 
> the tune will become a criminal offense.
>
> When you sing Happy Birthday, close all the curtains and darken the 
> room except perhaps for the light from a candle. Wear masks and hats 
> to protect your identity, perhaps helium to disguise your voice. 
> Making humorous additions and satirical modifications to the lyrics 
> may provide further legal protection from prosecution. Of course it is 
> best to not take the risk and enforce the singing public domain folk 
> tunes and birthday melodies such as German volksleiders, hymns or 
> gospel <http://ingeb.org/> in your classrooms.
>
> Perhaps it would be best if we all agree kept our mouths firmly shut?
>
> Regards Roland
>
> PS: My saxophone playing isnt great so perhaps nobody would recognise 
> the tune ..
>
>
> On 05/11/06, Jeffrey Lynn <jslynn at optusnet.com.au 
> <mailto:jslynn at optusnet.com.au>> wrote:
>
>     The copyright issue is legally quite clear: you can make one copy of a
>     computer program disk (CD or DVD) for backup purposes but it is
>     illegal to
>     copy music CDs or DVDs for any purpose. Technically, the copies of
>     CDs I
>     have in my car so I don't damage or lose my originals are quite
>     illegal. As
>     I have discussed with my students (and as Mark says), there is no
>     logic to
>     this, just law. However, the chances of my being prosecuted for
>     having such
>     copies are fairly remote - as the copies are not for resale,
>     redistribution,
>     or profit, the law is not too interested in wasting time and money
>     prosecuting. The real villains they are after are pirates churning
>     out
>     illegal copies for sale and profit. That does not alter the fact
>     that my
>     copies ARE illegal!
>
>     Note too that the copyright laws are in the process of being
>     changed and are
>     expected to be enacted in 2007.
>
>     Jeff Lynn,
>     Yeshivah/Beth Rivkah Colleges
>
>
>     -----Original Message-----
>     From: ipm-bounces at edulists.com.au
>     <mailto:ipm-bounces at edulists.com.au> [mailto:
>     ipm-bounces at edulists.com.au <mailto:ipm-bounces at edulists.com.au>] On
>     Behalf Of Mark Kelly
>     Sent: Sunday, 5 November 2006 17:45
>     To: Year 12 Information Technology Processing and Management
>     Teachers'Mailing List
>     Subject: Re: [Year 12 IPM] music copyright
>
>     Nick Axaris wrote:
>     > I was always under the understanding that you can make a copy of
>     a music
>     CD for backup purposes and not to share or sell it.
>     > There should be no issue copying a song for the purpose of a
>     presentation
>     as the student is not profiting or sharing that song with anyone else.
>     > When the presentation is over then the network manager can
>     delete it from
>     the network.
>     > Whilst on the network just ensure that it is only accesible by the
>     student.
>
>     What is legal and what is logical is - as usual - mutually exclusive.
>
>     --
>     Mark Kelly
>     McKinnon Secondary College
>
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>
>
>
> -- 
> Roland Gesthuizen - ICT Coordinator - Westall Secondary College
> http://www.westallsc.vic.edu.au
>
> "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can 
> change the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has." 
> --Margaret Mead _______________________________________________
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