Hi All

A couple wants a duet that appears on a CD released in 2007 by a popular country singer to be performed at their wedding. I have been asked by a friend (who is a singer) to transcribe this piece for piano accompaniment. There is no sheet music available yet.

I'm wondering if there are any legal issues involved and whether any steps need to be taken to secure permission. Actually, I'm about 90% done with the transription but am now questioning whether to finish it.

Thank you for any help/opinions you can share.

I think that if you simply play the piece at the wedding you should be fine. That is unless somebody who is employed by that particular record company just happens to be listening .

Personally I wouldn't worry about it. A second opinion wouldn't hurt though.

I think your safest bet is to contact the original composer (copyright holder) and ask permission, to set your mind completely at ease (or alternatively, an intellectual property attorney).

You're fine. It's not a for-profit situation, and even if it was, there's no way a major record label is going to pay the legal fees to go after a person playing one song at a wedding.

Kreisler is right. It would be silly to go through the trouble of contacting the copyright holder in this instance.

Your arrangement technically constitutes a derivative work. The copyright owner, in this case the copyright owner of the underlying musical composition (as distinguished from the master recording which is typically controlled by the record company and based on the fact pattern isn't being used here) controls the right to create a derivative work but that said, no music publisher has the time or inclination to police non-commercial exploitations such as the one you propose.

Oh, I just reread my post and the end sounded a bit abrupt which is not what I intended at all! I do apologize if it came across as a less than friendly tone. I was just trying to convey that there shouldn't be much cause for concern.

Doesn't that depend on what they think they can get in a lawsuit? What if that person was, say, Elton John?

I'll agree the risks are likely miniscule and practically speaking, nothing will probably ever happen.

However, your question was "Is it legal?" I don't think it is (but again, I'm not an attorney and freely admit I could be wrong).

I am not a copyright lawyer, but if you're interested you should read what ASCAP has to say about it:

http://www.ascap.com/licensing/licensingfaq.html

ASCAP is the agency that licenses the music for performances. It is the owner of the venue who is responsible for handling this, not the performer. I think business owners pay a yearly fee that covers stuff like this.

So you have nothing to worry about, play all the music you want!