On 16 Nov 2005, at 02:33, Stephen Bain wrote:
IANAL and all that, but as long as we are not replicating chunks of the chart verbatim, merely stating that so-and-so song reached X position on the chart, then there won't be any problems. We're not possibly infringing any copyrights by simply stating what they ranked the song as. However, if we had an article which listed the top forty for a particular week, or something, that would not be ok.
In US law it probably is ok to copy the whole thing verbatim, as compilations of facts (eg telephone directories) are not protected by copyright law. Charts might be different (we all know there is some creativity in their compilation...) but the question is whether it is worth defending with real money in court. One can presume that Jimbo's position is based on a legal consultation and reflects what the lawyers think it is worth defending, though if anyone thinks it is worth having the lists it is defensible I believe, despite Bilboard's claims. (I dont think it is worth having them).
Justinc