Is it against copyright laws to do this?
If I take a song such as Rihanna's "Umbrella" and make an acoustic cover of it. And then take that and put it in my video, that will be sold?
What if I don't sell it? Is it still against copyright laws?
Answers:
Yes, a cover of a song is still the song.
The individual melodies and lyrics are all intellectual properties that you in no way can copy or distribute without the consent of the owner.
I believe you still need to get the rights to it, because you can't alter a song of someone else's and say it's yours, because when you produce a record in your name, that's what you're saying.
Smedrik's right... there are two separate rights here... one's the "mechanical" right to the actual sound recording, another's the right to the musical work itself--the words and music. Oftentimes the owner of the mechanical work and the ower of the musical work are two different people.
By not copying the mechancial recording, you're not infringing it, but you ARE still infringing the song.
You can usually get your own mechanical license for the artist... in some circumstances there's actual a compulsory license whe you sell it.
http://www.intimateaudio.com/cover_song_...
What happens on YouTube? These people probably are infringing, but it's not worth it for the record companies to go after them, especially if they're not selling the cover.
Legally, you need to get the permission of the songwriters or their representative(s) to put your version of their song on the market. Normally, permission is given for a fee and a promise of royalties. Only if Rihanna wrote the music and/or the lyrics would she have anything to do with it.
I believe that YouTube is operating in a "grey area" as far as copyright issues are concerned, by allowing copyright materials (video captures of TV programs, etc.) to be displayed on their website. My guess is that the quality of these clips is so pathetic that legal action is not worth the trouble.
I remember reading about two Supreme Court cases.
In the first Supreme Court case someone copied 7 secs of the Rolling Stones lyrics onto their CD and sold. When Rolling Stones sued them, they lost because 7 secs is too short to be considered a copy write.
In the second case, someone copied 2 min. They got sued.
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