However, this is where TikTok’s Terms of Service come into play. If left to the position under copyright legislation alone, it’s safe to say that TikTok sea shanty remix artists would at least be in murky waters in terms of copyright infringement under Australian law, if they had not sought permission from the copyright owner. Layered recordings under TikTok’s Terms of Service This exception has been held to apply to ‘reaction videos’ on YouTube, and may therefore also cover layered TikTok videos, provided that the added element is sufficient to ‘transform’ the work.Īustralian law has no such fair use doctrine, and layered new vocals on a previous work are unlikely to come within our more limited fair dealing laws (although there is an argument that, say, layering a video of Kermit the Frog singing a sea shanty on top of previous videos, as some creative TikTok users have done, might be protected as parody or satire). America, for example, has a relatively robust ‘fair use’ doctrine, which permits ‘derivative works’, being works based upon pre-existing works that have been recast or transformed in some way. There are exceptions to this rule under various copyright regimes around the world.
Weatherman song sea shanty free#
Others are free to perform their own rendition of the sea shanty, but they would not ordinarily be entitled to reproduce or communicate to the public Nathan Evans’ original video, without first obtaining permission. This is because, while the lyrics and any sheet music to any sea shanties are likely to be in the public domain, a rendition of a sea shanty, such as the original video uploaded by Nathan Evans, is nevertheless likely to be protected separately under copyright law as a sound recording (in the case of the audio) and a film (in the case of the combination of the moving images and audio). The short answer is that, absent a licence from the author of the original video, this could constitute an infringement of copyright. That means that any musicians performing their own original version of the song, whether on TikTok or elsewhere, may be off the hook for copyright infringement.īut what about TikTok users who ‘layer’ their own music over other users’ videos? This means that the literary works comprising the lyrics to the Soon May the Wellerman Come sea shanty are now in the public domain under Australian copyright law. For literary works with unknown authors first published prior to 1955, copyright lasted for only 50 years after creation. Soon May the Wellerman Come, for example, which concerns whaling, is understood to have originated in around 1870 by an unknown author. If the works were published before 1955 or the author died before that date, the work is likely to now be out of copyright.).Īny sea shanty written in the 19 th century is therefore likely to be in the public domain, meaning that it is no longer protected by copyright and the exclusive rights which previously vested in the copyright owner (such as the right to reproduce the work or to perform the work) can now be exercised by anyone. (Under Australian law, there are differing rules about copyright duration, depending on the type of works, when the works were created, and when the author died. However any such protection in relation to historic sea shanties is likely to have now expired.
There are three independent “works” which may be protected by copyright in relation to a sea shanty: the lyrics, the sheet music (as an embodiment of the melody and any instrumentation), and any recording of the performance of the sea shanty itself. The first thing to note is that historical sea shanties, which generally trace their origins to the 19 th century, are very unlikely to still be protected by copyright. Late last year, Nathan Evans shared a video of himself on the social media platform TikTok singing a sea shanty called Soon May the Wellerman Come, and the video was quickly transformed into a viral hit, with various versions of the video clocking up millions of views and other artists layering their own vocals and instrumentation over the original recording.Īs well as providing a welcome distraction from many other more sombre events going on around the world, the sudden rise of sea shanties in popular discourse, particularly in the context of the countless videos being uploaded to TikTok, raises some interesting questions regarding copyright law and licences granted to social media platforms.
Of all the ways for 2021 to start, few would have predicted that one of the first viral trends of the new year would be sea shanties songs that were once sung on sailing vessels as a way of livening up repetitive busywork.
0 kommentar(er)
