Can I put a video of me singing a song on instagram or you tube?

January 20, 2018 3:04 PM

I have singing recitals where I sing a song with a piano accompanist and would like to put them on instagram and you tube. I also sing in a show choir and the school band plays behind us, but I am sure the song is copyrighted, but I wanted to show my friends my solo that I had in the show choir.

For bot the recital and the show choir can I just put them on instagram and you tube and tell them down below what the name of the song is and who wrote it?

I don't want to get a strike on any of those sites.

Thanks!

posted by lynnie-the-pooh to Media & Arts (5 answers total)

In my experience, the worst that'll happen on YouTube if they think you've contravened audio copyright is that they remove the audio and/or take the video down, and send you a message asking you to prove that you've used it lawfully (and if you can't or don't, nothing else happens, it just remains mute/deleted - sorry that I can't remember which). I've never had anything like a permanent strike on my account from it.

This is from posting video shot at outdoor events where there was music playing in the background. It was obviously the exact track held in their audio databases so was probably more easily identifiable than yours would be - I don't know whether or not their system's good enough to detect people doing their own versions of copyrighted songs.

I'd suggest you don't invite trouble by writing the name and author of the song underneath.
posted by penguin pie at 3:42 PM on January 20, 2018 [1 favorite]

I post covers all the time on Youtube and have never gotten a takedown! Usually what happens is that they require you to run ads on the video where the profit goes to the copyright holder.
posted by peppercorn at 4:02 PM on January 20, 2018 [3 favorites]

Yes, I believe what peppercorn says has become more and more standard (as these companies learned it's better than just sending out cease/desists or getting people shut down for covering stuff they love) - but there's no guarantee this will occur for every song in our universe.

I am working on a new cover right now, and I'm not certain I will post to Youtube, but I am going to buy licenses for both streaming and downloads from the Harry Fox agency via their Songfile website . That should cover me for a variety of strictly audio sites I can post to that are not Youtube. The reason is that you need a different type of copyright license (sync? I forget what it is called) to 100% be legit on Youtube, because it's video-with-audio. This is apparently true even if all you did was put up a static picture of yourself for the length of the entire thing.
posted by bitterkitten at 5:42 PM on January 20, 2018

If the ever-growing subculture of "high-school student or students sings a song or songs from Hamilton and puts it on YouTube" is any indication, you'll be fine.
posted by tzikeh at 6:44 PM on January 20, 2018 [1 favorite]

My guess is that you will be fine. Technically you need to obtain the consent of every other performer (i.e., the pianist, other singers in the choir, etc.) and those people have a right of refusal. This is a right I have exercised in the past. In my opinion, you are more likely to experience pushback from co-performers who may not want a recording of their performance posted on the internet than you are to get a takedown notice due to posting a recording of your personal non-monetized amateur performance of copyrighted material.
posted by slkinsey at 5:57 AM on January 21, 2018