COPYRIGHT DISPUTES ARISING FROM DISTRIBUTION OF CD RECORDED WITH SONGS TO RELATIVES AND FRIENDS BY COMMUNITY CHOIRS

01/01/2011

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The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) recently stated again that as the recording of a song into CD involves reproduction of the work concerned, unless it complies with the definition of fair use specified in the Copyright Act, the economic right owner's prior consent or authorization should be obtained; otherwise, this may infringe the owner's right of reproduction. The Copyright Act provides that to a reasonable extent and in case of nonprofit use by an individual or a family, a work that has been publicly released may be reproduced, provided that this is done with a machine that is either located in a library or is not provided for public use. If a community choir chooses several favorite songs and has a professional sound-recording studio record these songs, as such recordation is not carried out with a machine that is either located in a library or is not provided for public use, it does not comply with the definition of fair use provided by the Copyright Act. Under the circumstances, prior authorization from the economic right owner should be obtained. Otherwise, there is risk of infringing the economic right in the work concerned.