EXS 24 Logic Sampler Users Group

Personally, I see nothing wrong with a vocoded sample, provided the phrase,
spoken by any person, does not constitute a copyrighted work in and of
itself. If there's no trace of the original recording (other than formant
control, I think your fine. Keep in mind, I'm not the most conservative
person on this list, and I am in no way offering you legal counsel. But I'd
have no problem sleeping at night if my use of the phrase was completely
changed. There are surely members of this list that might argue this point
with me, but I don't want to drudge out all the specifics of my reasoning.
Suffice it to say, it could be your voice recorded and vocoded or distorted
as far as anyone else is concerned. Better yet, just rerecord the sample
using your own voice. Then vocode the sample. No one would know the
difference if the effect is as drastic as you suggest. If not, and the
original recording is somehow intact, you are taking a risk. You get my
point I think.

There are some fascinating stories that touch on this theme in the book
"Confessions of a Record Producer" by Moses Avalon, which, if you're
interested, you can order from our site at http://MusicBootCamp.com. It's
the best book I've come across for blowing the lid off the music industry
and shares a lot of insights about this and many other issues. Specifically,
it deals with the music industry in the context of real-world scenarios
rather than the untested, hypothetical terms of many other books. My
apologies if this sounds like a sales pitch. No one ever appreciates my
advice about reading this book until after they have read it... Anyway, best
wishes... Jer

> For what it's worth, I'd ALWAYS try and get as close to the source as
> possible and ask permission...saves you a lot of potential hassles down the
> road...when the billboard(not the mag)ad lawyers come after you to get
> someone a piece of your monsterhit...not worth the tylenol bills...Good
> luck,mn
> 
> 
> 
>> Does anyone know if it's legal to use other people's quotes as lyrics in a
>> song? E.g. all vocoded up but still intelligible. Do you have to attribute
>> the quote to the person in the song, or could you just give them credit in
>> the liner notes? Would you have to get their permission, or the permission
>> of the publisher of their book, to use the quote? I happen to live in the
>> USA if it matters.
>> 
>> Thanks!
>> Jeremy
>> http://www.ixks.com/~sadus