Question: Which accurately describes how copyright applies to a cover song?
- When performing a cover song, you still need to be sure that you have the permission of the songwriter or composer.
- This is protected by fair use, so you don’t need permission from the original content creator.
- A cover song is considered a transformative work, so you don’t need permission from the original content creator.
- You may want to change some of the lyrics in your cover song, so you would avoid copyright issues.
Explanation
A cover song uses an existing musical composition, so copyright can still apply even when the performance is newly recorded. The songwriter or composer may control rights in the underlying composition. Permission may be required before uploading or monetizing the cover on YouTube. Changing the performance or arrangement does not automatically remove the original rights holder’s control.
Why the other options are incorrect
Fair use is incorrect because cover songs are not automatically protected by fair use.
Transformative work is incorrect because a new performance of an existing song does not automatically eliminate the need for permission.
Changing lyrics is incorrect because altering lyrics can still rely on the original copyrighted composition.
Source for verification
https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2797449
https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/3301938
The answer(s) to the question is highlighted in the BOLD text above. You can also find more questions and answers related to the exams on the "YouTube Content Ownership" page.