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*sigh* I haven't ranted on this topic for a while, but I'm building playlists so I'm seeing it a lot.
"No copyright intended" does not save you from a copyright violation.
"Copyright" does not mean that you're claiming it for your own. That's plagiarism.
"Copyright" means that you have the RIGHTS to use the art (music in this case) in the way you are using it.
When you purchase a CD, you have the rights to listen to that CD in your house, your car, wherever you have a CD player pretty much. But it's for *personal* listening.
If you are hosting an event that's open to the public, whether it's a free event or not, you don't have the rights to play that song unless you purchase a license to play it at a public event. But, chances are, nobody will report you for it if you're not charging money.
If you *do* charge money for a public event, then you *really* don't have the right to play that song unless you've purchased a commercial license for it.
You can play the song you purchased from a CD or from iTunes at your house with your friends over. But you can't give them a copy of the CD. And you can't put it up on YouTube for the whole world to hear for free. Adding "no copyright intended" doesn't absolve you of a copyright violation because that's not what the copyright violation is.
Now, in most circumstances, you will probably not be reported and there will be no consequences for you, other than people like me giving you the side-eye for not paying artists for their art. I'm just telling you the actual (layman's translation of) "copyright".
And making your own art that works in conjunction with another piece of art (i.e. animating a music video to go along with an existing piece of music) makes this area a little muddier, so let's leave that part out for now.
And nobody better come in my comments with "but what about Fair Use?" because most circumstances where people are doing this don't qualify for Fair Use, because if they did, they wouldn't be using this disclaimer, they'd be using the appropriate disclaimers, so even bringing up Fair Use is a distraction - learn the basics before moving to the more advanced stuff.
If you're going to share artists' art without paying for it, at least share it directly from their channels and sources so that they get the page views or download counts or whatever.
Just don't think that "no copyright intended" is how you get out of a copyright violation. It's not about claiming the art as your own (although doing that will give the other person more of a legal case, should it ever go to court). It's about what legal RIGHTS have you purchased or been given to access that artwork.
For instance, the polydragon symbol is a copyrighted design. Franklin and I both have copyrights to it because the person who designed it is a former partner of mine and he gave us copyright to sell items with that design because he wasn't interested in doing that himself. Then I gave Bonedaddy Bruce permission to sell that design in his vinyl shop in exchange for a commission of all the stickers he sells, and also in exchange for him cutting for me all the stickers that *I* sell at cons and on my site, for which I pay him a cut of each sale for that labor.
That's how copyrights are exchanged. No one else is allowed to download, post, or sell anything with the polydragon on it (except for the graphics I have stamped with my copyright info available at the Poly Tees website). No user pics, no FB cover banners, no tattoos, no t-shirts, no Instagram pictures - nothing, unless you ask me for permission.
Songs are the same way - you buy an album or a song and you have the right to listen to it personally using the medium in which you bought it. That's it. Sharing it with the caveat "no copyright intended" doesn't absolve you of a copyright violation because that's not what "copyright" means.
If you run a red light even though you didn't intend to run a red light, you still ran that red light and you would be responsible for any fines or restitution or even any jail time or legal status as a result of the consequences of running that red light.
At least with running a red light, that could legitimately be an accident if you didn't see it or something. But uploading a song to YouTube is a deliberate act. You didn't "accidentally" upload the song, you did that on purpose. You're just ignorant of the law. However, as they say, ignorance of the law is not an excuse for breaking it. You're still responsible for following the law and the consequences for breaking it even if you're not aware of the laws.
Also, I'm not saying that I necessarily agree or that there aren't times one can justify doing so, morally or ethically speaking. I'm just saying what the law *is*.
"No copyright intended" is not a "get out of copyright violation free" card for sharing art without paying for it, with or without accepting money in exchange for sharing. That's not what "copyright" means.
#PetPeeve #StarvingArtist #MyLandlordDoesNotTakeExposureCredit #YouAreNotEntitledToOtherPeoplesLaborJustBecauseYouWantIt #AtLeastWhenIViolateCopyrightIKnowThatIsWhatIAmDoingAndWillAcceptTheConsequencesOfIt
"No copyright intended" does not save you from a copyright violation.
"Copyright" does not mean that you're claiming it for your own. That's plagiarism.
"Copyright" means that you have the RIGHTS to use the art (music in this case) in the way you are using it.
When you purchase a CD, you have the rights to listen to that CD in your house, your car, wherever you have a CD player pretty much. But it's for *personal* listening.
If you are hosting an event that's open to the public, whether it's a free event or not, you don't have the rights to play that song unless you purchase a license to play it at a public event. But, chances are, nobody will report you for it if you're not charging money.
If you *do* charge money for a public event, then you *really* don't have the right to play that song unless you've purchased a commercial license for it.
You can play the song you purchased from a CD or from iTunes at your house with your friends over. But you can't give them a copy of the CD. And you can't put it up on YouTube for the whole world to hear for free. Adding "no copyright intended" doesn't absolve you of a copyright violation because that's not what the copyright violation is.
Now, in most circumstances, you will probably not be reported and there will be no consequences for you, other than people like me giving you the side-eye for not paying artists for their art. I'm just telling you the actual (layman's translation of) "copyright".
And making your own art that works in conjunction with another piece of art (i.e. animating a music video to go along with an existing piece of music) makes this area a little muddier, so let's leave that part out for now.
And nobody better come in my comments with "but what about Fair Use?" because most circumstances where people are doing this don't qualify for Fair Use, because if they did, they wouldn't be using this disclaimer, they'd be using the appropriate disclaimers, so even bringing up Fair Use is a distraction - learn the basics before moving to the more advanced stuff.
If you're going to share artists' art without paying for it, at least share it directly from their channels and sources so that they get the page views or download counts or whatever.
Just don't think that "no copyright intended" is how you get out of a copyright violation. It's not about claiming the art as your own (although doing that will give the other person more of a legal case, should it ever go to court). It's about what legal RIGHTS have you purchased or been given to access that artwork.
For instance, the polydragon symbol is a copyrighted design. Franklin and I both have copyrights to it because the person who designed it is a former partner of mine and he gave us copyright to sell items with that design because he wasn't interested in doing that himself. Then I gave Bonedaddy Bruce permission to sell that design in his vinyl shop in exchange for a commission of all the stickers he sells, and also in exchange for him cutting for me all the stickers that *I* sell at cons and on my site, for which I pay him a cut of each sale for that labor.
That's how copyrights are exchanged. No one else is allowed to download, post, or sell anything with the polydragon on it (except for the graphics I have stamped with my copyright info available at the Poly Tees website). No user pics, no FB cover banners, no tattoos, no t-shirts, no Instagram pictures - nothing, unless you ask me for permission.
Songs are the same way - you buy an album or a song and you have the right to listen to it personally using the medium in which you bought it. That's it. Sharing it with the caveat "no copyright intended" doesn't absolve you of a copyright violation because that's not what "copyright" means.
If you run a red light even though you didn't intend to run a red light, you still ran that red light and you would be responsible for any fines or restitution or even any jail time or legal status as a result of the consequences of running that red light.
At least with running a red light, that could legitimately be an accident if you didn't see it or something. But uploading a song to YouTube is a deliberate act. You didn't "accidentally" upload the song, you did that on purpose. You're just ignorant of the law. However, as they say, ignorance of the law is not an excuse for breaking it. You're still responsible for following the law and the consequences for breaking it even if you're not aware of the laws.
Also, I'm not saying that I necessarily agree or that there aren't times one can justify doing so, morally or ethically speaking. I'm just saying what the law *is*.
"No copyright intended" is not a "get out of copyright violation free" card for sharing art without paying for it, with or without accepting money in exchange for sharing. That's not what "copyright" means.
#PetPeeve #StarvingArtist #MyLandlordDoesNotTakeExposureCredit #YouAreNotEntitledToOtherPeoplesLaborJustBecauseYouWantIt #AtLeastWhenIViolateCopyrightIKnowThatIsWhatIAmDoingAndWillAcceptTheConsequencesOfIt
