Re: Mixtapes and Copywrite Laws

Kevin Kiernan (mrfliz@interport.net)
Mon, 24 Jun 1996 12:08:41 -0400


Matthew Robert Chicoine wrote:
>
> Just a question to anybody who has made a mass-produced mixtape to sell
> in the past. I'm trying to put this tape together to have duplicated, but
> I was asked about copywrite laws. I really don't know anything about them.
> Does anybody have some tips for getting around this, and is their any
> real risk in making a mixtape? Just wondering.
> M Chicoine

i haven't mass-produced a mixtape. i'm guessing your duplicator asked about copyright
laws, because he or she is afraid legal action. the legal community has a word for what
you are considering doing -- theft. you don't own a copyright-a right to copy-for any
of the songs. a friend asked my advice about doing some underground breakbeat records
without clearing any of the songs, and i had to talk him out of it, although i really
kinda wanted to see some of those cuts in stores. this is the scary side.

the other side is that, as long as you keep your tape runs small, no one will really
care, and you'll just have a hard time finding a duplicator. record labels pretty much
understand that mix tapes are free promotion, and many labels will even provide mix-tape
masters with white labels, free promos, etc., because they recognize that the exposure
is great. many mix-tape masters cut their mix to dat, then dupe to cassette on a bunch
of double-cassette machines, since few legitimate duplicators will touch something
obviously illegal.

so don't sweat it, just send me a copy.......

mr fliz