This might come across as a weird post, but hear me out.
For those of you unaware, the Musician addon allows players to play music converted from MIDI format to other players nearby who also have the addon installed.
There are a few ways to use this functionality, ranging from loading up code converted via a website to manually playing music using the keyboard. This can lead to some fun RP interactions of musicians playing simple instruments, but also (possibly illegally) playing copyrighted music.
Normally the latter takes the form of someone playing a full song by a real-world band, which can be loud and disruptive, and cannot be muted at the current time (I think).
The reason I am making this post is that I really enjoy using the addon, but I donāt want to see support for it removed if copyright claims start coming in.
The way the copyright law works is that if the tune is public domain, it can be recreated without issue. If it is not public domain (as many current bandsā music is) then a license is required to legally recreate it for public performance.
Whatever constitutes āpublicā in this context is unclear, and Iām not sure what sort of repercussions there may be for violating any rule.
Does Blizzard have any stance on this? Does anyone in the community have any legal knowledge surrounding this particular issue?
I think Midi music is basicly just sheet music the programme running it determines the sounds for it, which is why it can sound different depending on what is playing it. so what musician does is just produce an arrangement of the song, no original work is replicated so no copyright.
Generally speaking copyright prevents others from making unauthorised reproductions of a song - the arrangement is included in that. Converting a file to midi then playing that in public, without the authorās/copyright holderās permission, is no different to playing the original song in public.
But YMMV based on your own national laws.
Worth noting that thereās currently a huge crackdown on twitch with regards to playing copyrighted music on stream - so public does include an online audience.
Edit: Not a lawyer, donāt take as actual legal advice.
Worth noting that thereās currently a huge crackdown on twitch with regards to playing copyrighted music on stream - so public does include an online audience.
This is actually a large part of why Iām asking - I recently got into trouble with Twitch for playing something on my stream. The composition was public domain (tune is over 100 years old) but the recording I used was property of someone, and I was using that without permission. Its complicated indeed.
Other concern is what happens if a streamer is playing, someone starts following them around playing some copyrighted music via their addon - the streamer could mute sound effects or disable the addon, but if they donāt, would they get in trouble?
Would really love to hear what Blizz has to say. I really hope the addon doesnāt lose support.
This is why I havenāt re-installed the add-on for quite some time. Thereās been one too many instances of Smash Mouthās All Star and Rick Astleyās Never Gonna Give You Up for my liking.
Back on topic though:
Public domain is very very iffy. There was a point fairly recently where it was thought that the song āHappy Birthdayā, as in the four-line song most people sing at most birthdays, wasnāt actually public domain but was instead owned by a company.
What actually was ruled was that the company owned the rights to a specific arrangement, and that they didnāt own the actual lyrics to the song.
While I canāt say definitively what the interaction with the Musician addon would be, I would imagine that because itās a recreation, it probably wouldnāt have much to reinforce.
Plus the idea of an artist, band, or label coming after Blizzard because somebody played a midi version of one of their songs strikes me as something of an extreme action.