Musician Archive
Thread: Composing Original Music?
Thanks for your post. I'm a law professor in RL, and I've spent a lot of time researching this question, because I too would love the ability to compose my own songs. But the copyright issues seem almost insurmountable. Copyright law doesn't just protect a recording of the song; it protects the song itself. Moreover, copyright law precludes "public performance" of a copyrighted work. If someone "composes" a Beatles song and performs it in Theed cantina, that's infringing on the rights of the owner of that song.
I'd love it if someone would prove me wrong. But I'm afraid that Sony, a big holder of copyrights, is not likely to create a system that is likely to promote widespread infringements of copyrights.
Sure, Monkey. Send me a Private Message through this forum. Be advised, though, that I generally can't give legal advice on subjects outside my main field of expertise, and my main field is not copyright law.
Monkeyboy3DX wrote:
hey NewJedi.... I am interested in Copyright questions on a different subject. Might I contact you on it?
Hey, I'm a ranger, former musician, experienced musician irl...
If there were ever a chance, just a slight chance, that I could somehow compose and perform original music in this game, I would drop ranger in a second. I know this is most likely impossible. But the benefits as I see them would be simply awesome! You couldform actual bands, write the music for each particular instrument, achieve a level of fame, schedule a tourof player-city cantinas, be hired to play weddings, get a percent from ticket sales, play some covers, maybe even sell the data for your music assheetmusic on the bazaar so other bands could play your material and vice versa, get a royalty percentage whenever someone else played one of your tunes and vice versa, play outdoor concerts in the many deserted cities (Vreni Island would be perfect for SWGstock, it would be crawling with people for once), etc.
I guess the only way this could be done from a technical standpoint would be to use some midi program, which I know from experience can be a challenge in itself. I have no clue how it could be integrated into the main game engine though.
A fabulous pipedream, no doubt. But it would be incredibly fun.
I don't know about copyrights or whatever, because there are things which are protected by the same laws that we can type out in the game, such as these songs' lyrics.
The reason we cannot write songs in the game is because it's an RPG and not all players will be able to make interesting songs. This game is "character skill based" not "player skill based." It's unfortunate because it would be a lot of fun, but thems the breaks.
We had a radio station for Kettemoor that players could listen to through winamp which played commercials and music recorded by the players. It was very cool to be at an event and hear the DJ say "This next song is by Wemi Crescendo, who's out on the dancefloor in front of me" then he played my original song. It's not reallyin the game, but it's a great idea.
I'm sure this has been mentioned before, but I'd just like to see a "record" option. It'd be like making a schematic but only with sheet music, like you said, you could sell it on the bazaar. I'd buy em in a heartbeat. Even attempt to make some of my own. Think it would be a really neat change to the sometimes monotonous life of a musician. Sure socializing in the cantinas is fun, but I'd kind of like some non-player-created content.
-Tych Malkere
(Kauri Galaxy)
Monkeyboy3DX wrote:
Already been said by the DEV's it will not happen do to copy right vilolations
Isn't it funny that I can go to Theed and YELL the words to Hotel California, but I can't play a C# on my horn?
Yep, we already can violate copyright in the game -- by /yelling "Hotel California", or for that matter by /saying the text of the latest Harry Potter novel. But Sony is probably not going to create a vehicle that it knows will be used to infringe both the lyrics AND the music of copyrighted works.A "public performance" of the music and lyrics of "Hotel California" is a more serious infringement than a mere recital of the lyrics.
As I said, I'm all for it: I'd love to have the chance to make music in the game, and I'd be willing to stomach a lot of lousy player-made music for the chance to hear something new and original and innovative. But I very much doubt it's going to happen.
I am a musician and am currently pursuing a degree in music and I just took a class on copyrights and the like. There is actuallya slight chance that sony could be held esponge from liability for copyright infringement. The idea that SOE comes up with a music creatation source (something like Finale or Sibelius but themed for SWG) as long as they that a reasonable protection to stopping individuals from infringing on other copyrights then they cant be held liable (ie. there is a program that was created for the old school napster that can identify a song by the first 5 secs of a piece. any song created in the game that used a song that is identifiable would not be allowed. If someone was able to break through this then sony would not be held liable due to the fact that they did take a reasonable protection. The only catch would be that SOE would have to prove that in a court of law. On the plus side though there are Federal cases in which others have proven that this program is a reasonable protection.
Again just my 2 notes,
Brog