# Copyright question: does this (planned) website violate song copyright?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copyright-question-does-this-planned-website-violate-song-copyright/324486>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 2, 2005, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copyright-question-does-this-planned-website-violate-song-copyright/324486 "2005-10-02T22:05:58Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![andrewdt85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/71e660/32.png) [@andrewdt85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewdt85)\
**Post date:** [October 2, 2005, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copyright-question-does-this-planned-website-violate-song-copyright/324486/1 "2005-10-02T22:05:58Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> you go on the site, with a snippet- either a sound or a bit of lyrics that you can’t use to find it on the internet- in your head (or both), and you record that in a media snippet on the site w/ a mike you have on your PC (you must have a mic). Then, the users try to tell you what that song you crave is.

And in this previous thread, it was pointed out to me

> [@](#):
>
> When other people will be able to hear those snippets, it probably would violate copyright laws - depending on the length of the fragments.

and a comparison to ‘Happy Birthday to You’ was made, pointing out that it’s still under copyright and can’t be sung on public performance (stage, tv, radio, etc.).

Does this site violate copyright? What are the laws?

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**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\
**Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/copyright-question-does-this-planned-website-violate-song-copyright/324486/2 "2005-10-03T02:45:03Z")

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Sounds like “fair use” to me if people are just using snippets of the total song.