Storytime Music

February 27, 2008 @ 10:50amJennSalas says:
I was wondering if playing music at storytimes goes against copyright law. Also, if you make a compilation of music from cd's that the library owns to play in your storytime, is this going against copyright law? Would a solution to the second question be to take all of the cd's that you burned music off of and keep them unavailable for anyone else to use while you are using the burned copy cd? Thank you!
February 27, 2008 @ 1:12pmJanetCroft says:
Playing the CDs at storytime looks like a pretty straightforward fair use -- just like reading a book. You don't charge a fee for storytime, do you? That would change things.

I would think that making a CD of the tracks you are planning to use, and using it just for storytime (don't send a copy home with parents, for example) should be okay. On the plus side, your use is non-profit and educational; on the negative, the nature of the copyrighted work is creative. Also on the negative side, you probably want to use entire songs; but weighing strongly on the positive side is the fact that you are unlikely to have a negative effect on the market for the copyrighted work. I think you're okay on this.
February 28, 2008 @ 11:01amJennSalas says:
No, we do not charge for storytimes. Your answer sounds promising. I would love to hear anyone else's thoughts, either agreeing or disagreeing. Thanks!

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