How to Release A Cover Song (LEGALLY & Creatively)

[@lucasfourniermusic]

I did my research as well as I possibly could for this video, but I'm not a lawyer, just a music producer. Consider this as a fact-checking thread for anything I might have gotten wrong, and I'll do my best to add a disclaimer. Comment away!

[@Graceful_Talent]

But what if I don't want to monetize the video, I just wanna post it 😂

[@giginochemusic]

I cannot thank you enough for this information, your sence of humor, and just how straightforward your pacing of the delivery was. It’s an art form and you got it down ! I’m so excited to go and hear your cover 😀

[@lucasfourniermusic]

thank you so much, this comment is too kind! super glad you found it helpful :)

[@thulaniwav]

Great video Lucas! Was actually planning to release a cover of my own (already have a few on here) so I'm really grateful you made this video. :)

[@Patrick-ryan-collins]

As a writer of sound and lyrics...I don't feel like I own them. Everything in my head came from some other musicians...It's ephemeral..... we're ultimately trying to "proprietarily own a sequence of vibrations and words" learn a famous song....now you're King Midas. I'm a big fan of stealing ideas if you can make them your own. It's the Jazz Way. I know you can't copyright harmonic progressions... eventually we'll run out of melodies too. Might take a theoretical eon. Thanks for the breakdown. Great French pronunciation and great singing too ❤

[@maura423]

Thank you for this! I'm not a music creator, but I wanted to know if someone could hum or sing a song casually in videos without making trouble for themselves. Your video gives me a little understanding.

[@yellownoiseclub]

i think it also depnds on the artist/record label. i post guitar covers of songs (just a note for note play through of the guitar parts) mostly arctic monkeys, rhcp, nirvana and i get notifed that copyrighted music is in the video but that the owner doesnt require me to remove my video (im not moetized btw)

[@lucasfourniermusic]

yeah exactly! this will be the case 99% of the time on youtube

[@juliakingmusic]

Super helpful! Thank you!

[@jamescassell4143]

great, great, informative + fun video. Thanks for putting in the time to make this :)

[@lucasfourniermusic]

thanks so much, super glad to hear that!

[@RJMCTV]

Really useful information - and from your personal experience. Nice one.

[@lucasfourniermusic]

thank you, glad to hear!

[@pahpyaw]

thanks for the helpful video! I have a question about distributing cover songs through DistroKid and uploading them to KZbin. If I distribute my cover song via DistroKid to streaming platforms, including KZbin Music, will KZbin automatically recognize me as the owner when I upload a video of that same cover song to my KZbin channel? I’m worried about potential Content ID claims. How do I make sure KZbin knows I’m the one who distributed the song through DistroKid? Any advice would be great, thanks!

[@Hamorich]

What if I do a guitar instrumental version of a song that originally has lyrics? Do I have to get a license?

[@lucasfourniermusic]

I believe it falls under the same license (compulsory mechanical license) as regular cover songs with lyrics

[@samuelisaacson4582]

Hey Lucas, I’m doing a cover song in the same genre (maybe a little more metal) but I’m changing the lyrics - completely different verses and bridge but similar chorus. Do you have any resources to help with distribution on that?

[@lucasfourniermusic]

this sounds like a tough one, if you're looking to get this on streaming you'd likely have to individually get permission from the copyright owner, so have a look into who that might be and contact them

[@samuelisaacson4582]

Good idea, it’s from a major motion picture and the parody is for work as an inside joke of sorts, so I may just not release it at all

[@IndabandJams]

Thank you for all the content. Very insightful and helpful. Question regarding the topic about KZbin's Content ID, which wasn't covered on the video. After I upload a cover video to a YT Channel and the content ID mechanism recognizes the copyright holder and I am allowed to post it without any specific regional blocks or things like it, is there still a risk of a copyright strike? How do you mitigate that? thank you

[@drummergirl6402]

So, would you have to get a mechanical license for each song of is it kind of a blanket license?

[@lucasfourniermusic]

yeah pretty much! from what I understand it's the standard because it gives permission for digital sales, which still exist on some platforms despite how rare they are

[@ronjie]

Two scenarios: 1. I cover an alt-folk song and turn it into a hardcore punk rock song - if I change the guitar solo, is that materially changing the spirit of the song? 2. Take #1 but translate/interpret the song into a different language. Still a cover song? Scenario 3: where do parodies come in?

[@lucasfourniermusic]

@@ronjie to the best of my knowledge… 1) changing the guitar solo should be fine; 2) I believe translations qualify as a “derivative work”, so if you want to release that commercially in the US you’ll need to contact the copyright holder; 3) This one’s so interesting and I wanted to include it in the video but didn’t have space. Weird Al style parodies that use the melody to make an entirely different song are derivative works and NOT cover songs. BUT there’s an exception in copyright law for “commentary and critique”. So parodies that solely make fun of the original lyrics or music videos don’t infringe the copyright. Do you remember The Key of Awesome? Huge parody channel back in the day, but they could only make parodies that poked fun at the original music videos because of this.

[@culturetoronto]

Let me ask you something homie.. if I use the instrumental of an artist and write unique lyrics to it, similar to weird Al, and I get a copyright ID claim, could I get demonetized? I don't know... I got demonetized for something lol and KZbin doesn't tell you what you did but you can reapply in 90 days..

[@lucasfourniermusic]

yeah that sounds like the exact kind of thing that could get you demonetized, haha - writing new lyrics to an existing instrumental is a derivative work under copyright law so would require a sync license to monetize on youtube

[@Gumisamavt]

What if I do a cover song from a Warner Bros movie? But instead of monetizing it or putting it on any streaming platforms, I just post it to youtube and leave it unmonetized? Would I still get in trouble?

[@lucasfourniermusic]

if it's not monetized it's extreeeemely unlikely you'll run into any issues

[@arodreeds]

Appreciate the info!

[@alexdawood4474]

What if I want to make a medley for 1 artist or for multiple artists in 1 video? How can be done?

[@lucasfourniermusic]

If you want that video to be monetized then you might need a license for each one, but to be honest I don't know specifics about this. If you're not worried about monetization then you can probably post on youtube without an issue. Just be careful if you do an Eagles song lol

[@Maplyne]

What if I record to the original song's beat with different lyrics? Is that a cover? And can I post it to KZbin???

[@lucasfourniermusic]

nope, and probably not! that would be a derivative work that you'd need a sync license for if you wanted to monetize

[@rjj9278]

Hey Lucas, what about remixes? I have a few songs that I downloaded the instrumental off KZbin and recorded new lyrics on top. I plan to record a video to it. What are the rules for YT, IG, and other platforms for content like this?

[@lucasfourniermusic]

sorry for the late reply - are these instrumentals from beat channels that are meant for commercial use, or of existing songs? Taking an existing released song (especially from a major label) and recording new lyrics to it is kind of a cardinal copyright sin, assuming you want to monetize

[@DavidParsonsIII]

I got my eagles cover taken down and that’s why I’m here… haha love the note about the Eagles publisher

[@lucasfourniermusic]

haha no way, I have a friend who had the same thing happen lol. It's so ridiculous!

[@benjimartinnc]

The Eagles, especially Don Henley, are tight as hell about their music being covered on KZbin and Facebook.

[@DavidParsonsIII]

Great work!! Thanks man 🎉

[@AlexanderSchüssler-u8v]

Great video! Does this mean that we can buy cover vocals from Vokaal etc and release them on Spotify through distrokid?

[@lucasfourniermusic]

I have no idea honestly, never heard of that site. There should be some kind of terms and conditions you could check on any site that sells royalty free samples (which I'm assuming Vokaal does)

[@scottsmith7521]

i have ADHD and this video is too long. do i have to get a mechanical license for doing a cover performance uploaded to youtube and shared on social media???

[@freddymercury2259]

What if I want to cover a song but translate the lyrics into Spanish or Russian? Is that no longer a cover?

[@lucasfourniermusic]

as far as I know, translations are categorized as a "derivative work" which means you'll need to contact the copyright holder and get a non-compulsory license if you want to distribute commerically/monetize the cover

[@Murphalino]

Can I post a video of my daughter sinigng a cover of Oceans by Hilltop on KZbin? Not looking to monetize just make it available for friends and family to see. I can see lots of others for this song. Do we need a license? Thank you

[@lucasfourniermusic]

yup, if it’s not monetized and it’s not The Eagles, you’re almost certainly safe!

[@DjTonioRoffo]

Thank you. Very interesting. This will only get more complicated with voice cloning (and even blending multiple voices using AI)

[@lucasfourniermusic]

that's 100% true, I've read some of the copyright law they've rushed into place to regulate AI and it's astoundingly incoherent, so it'll be interesting to see how it develops

[@jacobplaylists]

What happens if you wanna cover a leaked song or an unreleased song ?

[@lucasfourniermusic]

that's a really interesting one, and I'm not 100% sure. Likely the artist will have already registered the copyright, so it's probably a very similar process.

[@Tsa-SONGS-ABOUT-BEING-a-DAD]

Very useful cheers mate

[@injusticeanywhere381]

Very informative

[@cavalo047gameimortal3]

Bro saved my life

[@lucasfourniermusic]

so glad to hear it!

[@SAZIZMUSIC]

I am here because i got a strike for uploading summer of 69 cover 😢

[@reevestimpson]

I am also here because of a bryan adams cover 😂

[@SAZIZMUSIC]

@@reevestimpson 😭 Universal music group put a strike in my channel and removed the cover too!! We have to be careful before covering Songs owned by Universal music group 🤟

[@reevestimpson]

@@SAZIZMUSIC yeah that’s a good point. I’m doing about a cover a week and I might just look into getting a license for each one just to be safe

[@lucasfourniermusic]

that's so frustrating, UMG can be such tyrants. KZbin truly is the wild west for cover songs lol

[@joemcnally4125]

Me too 😂

[@easystreetwithjen]

That rots!

[@Bashanvibe]

New Sub👊🏾 thank you 🙏🏽 this explains alot I’m trying to drop My Funny Valentine for Valentine Day in 2025

[@Capriosun]

❤😂😂😂🎉🎉😢😢

[@lilikiwi]

Tes Quebecois?

[@lucasfourniermusic]

j'ai grandi en Ontario, mais j'ai étudié à Montréal pendant 4 ans!