Q: Can I sell custom home decor that plays a celebrity song? It was going to be upcharged service fee

A: Your idea of creating customizable home décor that plays celebrity songs is a unique and creative venture. However, using copyrighted music in products raises several legal concerns, and it’s essential to ensure you're compliant with intellectual property laws.

Here are a few key considerations:

Copyright Law: Songs, including full versions, partial versions (chorus or instrumental), are protected by copyright. In order to use a celebrity's song in your products, you would generally need to obtain a license from the copyright owner, which could be the artist, music publisher, or record label. This applies whether you're using a full song, part of the song, or even just an instrumental.

Mechanical License: This type of license is needed when you reproduce and distribute copyrighted music in a product. You would need to secure this from a licensing agency, like the Harry Fox Agency, or directly from the copyright holder.

Public Performance Rights: If the song plays for others in a public or commercial setting (for example, if your product is demonstrated in a store), additional licenses for public performance may be required.

Alternatives: To avoid potential legal issues, you could consider working with royalty-free music or licensing pre-cleared music. This would give you more flexibility without needing to negotiate directly with the copyright holders of popular celebrity songs.

A: When selling custom home decor that plays a celebrity song, you need to be aware of copyright laws. Using a song, whether it's the full track, a partial clip, chorus, or instrumental version, requires permission from the copyright holder. This means you need to secure a license to legally use the song in your products, especially if you're charging a fee for this service.

There are different types of licenses for music, such as mechanical licenses for reproducing the song and synchronization licenses for using the song in multimedia or products. If you don’t get the proper licenses, you could face legal issues, including fines or lawsuits from copyright holders. Even if you only use a small portion of a song, copyright rules still apply.

Consider reaching out to music licensing organizations or directly to the song's copyright owners to obtain the necessary permissions. It's essential to handle this properly to avoid any legal troubles and ensure your business operates within the bounds of the law.