By Neo Joyce

Williams did not commit perjury in Blurred Lines plagiarism trial.

Williams was sued by the Gaye’s estate for allegedly using parts of the 1977 hit song Got To Give Up song by Marvin Gaye.

What if you are an artist or a blogger and want to use your favourite band/artist’s song? Say you are composing a new song and you are a super fan of a band/singer and want to honour them by using part of their song?  We strongly advise you not to do so unless you have permission from the rightful owners.

It is popular belief that you can use between 5 and 15 seconds of somebody else’s song in your own song, on a podcast, or anywhere else. According to copyright law in the US any use of copyrighted material without permission of the rightful owner of a song is a copyright infringement. It does not matter if you credit the rightful copyright owner, you cannot use the song without permission and are liable to copyright infringement.

Students who use part of a song thinking that it is fair use, given it is used in an educational capacity and that nothing is earned from the song should be warned – since each copyright infringement law case will be investigated differently.  If you do not make money from your project or podcast and use a few seconds of a song for discussion purposes – in rare occasions you might have a stronger case than someone who earns money from it.

If you really want to use some of your favourite band’s song pay for a license from the rightful owner and you will not get sued. You have to negotiate with the artist, music publisher and record label to agree a payment amount.

It is advisable to not use other people’s copyrighted music, but use sites where they allow you use their music free or for a small amount.  You can also use songs composed before 1923 and other songs that are not protected by copyright and are public domain.

Best is to use your creative mind and compose your own song or pay a local musician to compose a song with you for you to use at all times.

Do you have any songs you like to share and anyone can use it  for their podcast or any other projects?