This probably doesn't happen too often, but...

Remiss · Post by **Remiss** » Sun Mar 25, 2007 4:37 am

What's the proper procedure when somebody blatantly rips off something from SF? I came across this the other day on DeviantArt and instantly recognized it. (As if the lyrics weren't a dead giveaway, the mp3 is exactly the same)

(And this is the part where you guys go HEY REMISS THAT'S SOUTHWEST STATISTIC'S DEVIANTART YOU FOOL and i go oh whoops my bad)

also, feels like i haven't been here in forever, haha. hope everyone's doing okay.

Billy's Little Trip · Sun Mar 25, 2007 11:59 am

My procedure would be to listen and judge how well they covered/copied me and give them my opinion. Then I'd bask in the good feeling that someone liked one of my songs enough to cover or copy it and hope they take it further than my under achieving ass ever did.
If someone ever got famous from an exact copy of one of my songs and used my exact lyrics, I'd want a blurb in the credits for writing the song. If monetary compensation came up, I wouldn't turn it down.

This reminds me. I'm pretty sure the fact that our songs are entered and dated here at SF, it's about as good as a copyright. Maybe some law types here can confirm this.

Egg · Post by **Egg** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 9:49 am

I'm not a lawman, but it seems like dated entries on songfight could help in a legal battle. Unfortunately, it also seems like it's just a little helpful since they could claim they wrote it before you posted it, that songfight isn't a reliable/secure source, that the host isn't reliable/secure, etc.

If you find something that is a blatant rip off, you should just let both parties know of your finding, I think. Or let the party you think is in the right know first. That seems like a smart thing to do.