A question

[Matthew.]

Hi all,

So I've got a great idea for a site that i would like to develop after my exams, it's a fair way off so I've got a load of time to gather some information on how to go about doing this, right now i have two questions:

#1. Is album art freely usable?
E.g. HMV.co.uk uses album art next to listings: here

Would there be any problems with using small thumbnails of album art like this?

#2. This one is not so related to my idea, but still may become relevant. How do sites such as http://radioblogclub.com get away with streaming music on demand? Or should they technically not be?

If there's one area i know virtually nothing about it's licenses/limitations of things like this so any input is welcomed.

Matt

 

[slipondajimmy]

Well im going to guess that technically Album art is not legal to use. Im sure it is protected by copyright/trademarks.

as far a streaming goes you need to be licensed to legally do it. here is that information . http://www.riaa.com/issues\licensing\webcasting_faq.asp#areli

Now I do not know how this works in different parts of the world so take what I post as nothing concrete

 

[Matthew.]

Well im going to guess that technically Album art is not legal to use. Im sure it is protected by copyright/trademarks.

That's what i was thinking, no one is going to quibble about someone posting an image on a blog or something but when using it on a more commercial scale like i would be planning to do...I don't know.

Sites like last.fm and art4itunes.com also do it, so it must be achievable.

Matt

 

[slipondajimmy]

Well just because other do it do not mean its legal...lol . I sure you could get away with it but if you where going to go BIG you might want to get a lawyer that deals with this type of stuff

 

[Matthew.]

Well just because other do it do not mean its legal...lol . I sure you could get away with it but if you where going to go BIG you might want to get a lawyer that deals with this type of stuff

Oh i didn't mean that, i used HMV as an example as a large high street shop chain aren't about to do it illegally lol.

Matt

 

[labrocca]

Hi all,

So I've got a great idea for a site that i would like to develop after my exams, it's a fair way off so I've got a load of time to gather some information on how to go about doing this, right now i have two questions:

#1. Is album art freely usable?
E.g. HMV.co.uk uses album art next to listings: here

Would there be any problems with using small thumbnails of album art like this?

#2. This one is not so related to my idea, but still may become relevant. How do sites such as http://radioblogclub.com get away with streaming music on demand? Or should they technically not be?

If there's one area i know virtually nothing about it's licenses/limitations of things like this so any input is welcomed.

Matt

1. HMV is selling their product..this is fair use.
2. Artitunes uses the images from Amazon so it's not hosting any files
3. http://radioblogclub.com/disclaimer/ RadioBlog may or many be infringing

Cover art is copyrighted. Your usage is important. If you had a site which actually hosted file images and also made money from advertising or charging for the cover art then you could eventually have an issue.

 

[Matthew.]

Cover art is copyrighted. Your usage is important. If you had a site which actually hosted file images and also made money from advertising or charging for the cover art then you could eventually have an issue.

Hmm...See this is my problem. I would need to be hosting the images, and of course as with any site be trying to earn some revenue by using the obligatory adsense etc.

However i would not be wanting to make money from the artists, if that make sense. In fact a large part of the site would be linking to/joining other affiliate programs with itunes, amazon and other music stores to encourage people to (legally) download the song.

Matt