You generally don't need direct artist permission to cover a song, but you do need licenses (mechanical for recording/streaming, public performance for live gigs) and must pay royalties to the original songwriters via collecting societies like APRA AMCOS or ASCAP/BMI, ensuring proper credit; releasing without licenses, especially on monetized platforms, risks legal trouble and revenue loss, though some platforms automatically handle claims or pay publishers.
It may surprise you to learn that you don't need explicit permission from the original artist if you want to cover a song. As long as you've obtained the correct licenses, notified the copyright owner, and paid the required royalties, you're legally covered.
A question we're often asked: If I'm playing a gig and I decide to perform a cover song, do I need to ask the artist for permission? While you do not need permission, you must add it to your Performance Report and you do put it in your setlist.
Yes -- you can be sued, because framed album covers are protected by copyright and (often) trademark, and displaying or selling them without proper rights can create liability.
The "15 Second" or "8 Bar" Rule
The reality is that there is no legal protection in copyright law for these types of use. If you use a piece of a composition or sound recording that is copyrighted, you will need a license.
This goal length dates back to vinyl records when artists hoped to have at least 3 minutes of material to fill out a 45 rpm disc, also known as a “single.” As explained by Vox, singles were cheaper to create and cheaper to buy, so artists were incentivized to adhere to the rule.
Unfortunately, there are no fixed standards as to how much of a song you can use without infringing the song owner's copyright. Of course, the shorter you can make the clip, the stronger your argument for fair use protection.
Most music covers do not qualify as fair use because they involve reproducing substantial parts of a copyrighted song. Even non-commercial uses of music require permission, as covers typically do not meet the legal standards for fair use.
Copyright: Avoid Copyright Infringement
Use only your original work in your project. Get written permission to reproduce another's work. Use content licensed with Creative Commons agreements. The Search identifies content that you can use.
All artists must seek permission to post a cover song not in the public domain on their YouTube channel. The artist must define all intended uses and compare them with the exclusive rights of the copyright in order to ensure that the song is being used legally.
How To Legally Record And Sell A Cover Song In 3 Steps
Live performances
Make sure you also tell us about any covers you perform so the original songwriters can get paid royalties. If someone else performs your song live, you'll get the song royalties.
In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song.
Technically, you should be able to put up a cover song on TikTok. or any other platform. However, because of something called Content ID, all of these platforms have software. that lets them know that a song is being used. that belongs to a copyright holder.
You need to get permission to use the song in your film from the original artist/writer of it. The cover you have means that there is already a track you can use for free but the song itself and the rights to use it have to be purchased.
The top 5 ways people break copyright law are: using found images, copying website text, using music without a licence, selling products with copyrighted designs, and downloading unlicensed digital assets.
Since all original content is protected under copyright law unless otherwise indicated, a good best practice is not to reuse ANYTHING unless you get the owner's consent, or unless you are absolutely sure that they have granted permission for others to reuse the work, or the intellectual property clearly falls under ...
The question is how much of the prior work that is copied. This can be answered by comparing the two works, and if a reasonable observer could find similarities in the works, that are not trivial, abstract or related to noncopyrightable material, courts will conclude that there is actionable infringement.
A common misconception in the music industry is that you need to get permission from a copyright owner in order to cover a song. In reality, you can go straight to securing a compulsory mechanical license — required by law as part of the 1909 Copyright Act — and compensating the rights holder for their work.
Importantly, there is no set number of seconds of a song or film that automatically qualifies as fair use; each case is different.
But, the composition remains the property of the songwriter or publisher, because you are using their song. Therefore, they're entitled to compensation for your use of their song. To legally release a cover song, you need to secure a mechanical license to do so.
The 80/20 Principle
He wasn't a songwriter, but his “Pareto Principle” — also known as the 80/20 rule — has changed the game in business, sports, and yes, even songwriting. Here's the basic idea: 80% of your results come from 20% of your efforts. That means most of what you're doing might not be moving the needle.
The 30-second rule on YouTube refers to a critical threshold in video performance metrics. If a viewer clicks on a video but leaves before watching at least 30 seconds, YouTube's algorithm typically treats that view as less valuable—or may discount it entirely when calculating Watch Time.
Using copyrighted music in your content, even for just one second, is not allowed. This can lead to legal consequences, especially if the copyright holder has the necessary license.