The copyright laws are very specific. Ownership of ANY work, from the
moment its put on tape or paper, is the artist's or his commissioner. But
the artists often sell the rights to the work to larger companies who market
and promote their works.
Look on the label of the CD/LP/8-track/Cassette/Web-site. Somewhere, it
should say something like:
(c) Mega Records 2002
(Even if it does not say this, it is still copyrighted; it'll just be a
little harder to track down who you will need to contact.)
Look up Mega records on the internet and find a phone number or e-mail
address. You will have to contact them to get permission to include their
work as part of yours. They will, most likely want to know the way the work
will be used, the expected audience, whether the work will be single use or
included for multiple use, etc. They may decide to agree to let you use it
free of charge, negotiate a fee, or decline your request. After all, it is
theirs to do with what they will.
Some organizations have agreements with large number of these companies.
Churches will often subscribe to these "clearing house" organizations for
copyright permissions. This allows them to make copies without having to
get individual permissions for each one. However, the church must still
record and report back to the clearing house, how many of what was copied,
so the accounts can be settled.
So the answer is pretty yucky if you look at all the hoops you have to jump
through to get permission to use something. It is an awful lot of work to
do it right. The good side is that the same rules apply when someone wants
to use your work. They should contact and negotiate with you.
For more information on copyrights:
http://www.loc.gov/copyright/
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