Dear Suresh,
I apologize if my response to your comment sounded harsh; it was not meant to be. I'm glad we've cleared this issue up between us. As far as i'm concerned, no hard feelings, and its all good, eh?
Thank you also for your advice concerning the broadcasting of copyrighted material - this is an issue that i've been grappling with lately and my concern for the copyright of artists' is reflected in the research i've conducted online and offline over the issue.
For the MACP (Music Authors' Copyright Protection) guidelines on Malaysian copyright laws (as a Malaysian, i'm governed by these laws even if the copyrighted material in question is not owned by a Malaysian; this, i believe is a due to a clause in the Berne Convention, revised text 1971), pls take a look at this:
http://www.macp.com.my/legislative.html
You will also notice that the MACP has made a list of possible scenarios that require lincensing. Its quite clear that what i've done with the VOI: Audio does not fall within any of these categories:
http://www.macp.com.my/licensing.html
Lastly, taking these two guidelines into consideration, there is the matter of the "Fair Dealings" (in US copyright law its called "Fair Use") exceptions, under which copyright retrictions are relaxed. You will find the exact wordings from the legislation in this link:
http://www.aizuddindanian.com/voi/archives/000351.html
I draw your attention to:
"any of the acts referred to in subsection (1) by way of fair dealing for purposes of non profit research, private study, criticism, review or the reporting of current events, subject to the condition that if such use is public, it is accompanied by an acknowledgement of the title of the work and its authorship"
and also:
"What is 'criticism and review'?
The phrase used in many copyright acts in relation to fair dealing is: "criticism and review of that work or of any other work". This means that a book review programme, for example, could use quotations from a book while evaluating that book or in comparing it with another work without infringing copyright. A musical programme, which sets out to review a symphonic work, could include excerpts from the work and could also compare sections of it with passages from other works."
This is where i see the future of the VOI: Audio. It will feature reviews + criticism of audio/visual work - as part of the review, "excerpts from the work" under review will be made available for people to listen and/or view via a public broadcast.
This approach, coupled with the obvious non-profit nature of my website should be enough to allow the VOI: Audio to fall within the "Fair Dealings" exceptions. I will continue to do research on this very important matter - i intend to write correspondence to various IP professors/experts in the coming weeks to further clarify my position. In the meantime, i will continue as planned.
Lastly, below is a possible scenario for the VOI: Audio, just so matters are clear:
1. I buy the original Linkin Park CD, "Meteora".
2. I do a review of the album. I do research about the group and post my findings as part of the review. I recommend the album for purchase.
3. As part of the review, i publish "excerpts" (not full albums, and possibly not even full songs) from the album in VOI: Audio for people to get a taste of the music via a streaming broadcast (never for outright download).
Thank you once again for your concern. I'm very appreciative that you took the time to write to me and provide your very valuable feedback. I look forward to your feedback and review of my methods as described above. Take care, God bless.
