Derivative songs - creative or destructive?

Noisy version of "Baby Elephant in Ban Don"

Recently, musician Pham Tuyen's daughter - journalist Pham Hong Tuyen - spoke out indignantly about her father's song "The Little Elephant in Ban Don" being modified in a direction that was different from the original.

According to journalist Pham Hong Tuyen, a derivative song called "The Little Elephant in Ban Don" is being circulated on social media with musical and lyrical variations different from the original. It is worth noting that many people choose these variations.

The children's song "Little Elephant in Ban Don" composed by musician Pham Tuyen is becoming noisy because many derivative versions have appeared. Photo: DOCUMENT

No one asked for permission

The derivative version of "The Little Elephant in Ban Don" is currently misunderstood by many people as the original version. When listening to the derivative version, musician Pham Tuyen affirmed: "That is not my song".

Among the derivative songs of "The Little Elephant in Ban Don" that are spreading, many music listeners pay special attention to the version performed by Ahu. This version appeared 3 months ago, currently has about 23,000 listens/views with mixed opinions. Previously, the version performed by Hoai Long 3 years ago had more than 300,000 views.

In addition, the versions performed by Vu Nguyen Thao, Duyen Le, Le Anh 1 year ago or Bach Nguyen 3 months ago... all have about tens of thousands of views. Compared to the original "Little Elephant in Ban Don" performed by children (the latest version was posted on YouTube 9 months ago) with nearly 30 million views/listens, the derivative versions are completely overshadowed in terms of popularity.

The children's song "Little Elephant in Ban Don" composed by musician Pham Tuyen is becoming noisy because many derivative versions have appeared. Photo: DOCUMENT

What worries musician Pham Tuyen's family is that no one asked for his permission to create a derivative of the song "The Little Elephant in Ban Don". Thus, they have "violated the copyright" of the composition. Meanwhile, according to musician Pham Tuyen's family, in 2009, the people who produced the program "Tao Quan" came to ask for his permission to adapt the song "From a Street Crossroads" into "Flood from a Street Crossroads".

Journalist Pham Hong Tuyen affirmed that musician Pham Tuyen strongly supports his research, creativity, and innovation of his work. However, that does not mean that the song can be arbitrarily used or transformed without the author's permission or that the spirit of the original work can be lost. "We hope that whoever created this song will contact our family so that everything can be clarified," Ms. Tuyen expressed.

Find a new way

Recently, the renewal of some songs, specifically Trinh Cong Son's music by singer Ha Le with the album "O tro" under the project "Trinh Contemporary", has attracted attention. Ha Le has painted a completely new and unimaginable image of Trinh's music. Familiar songs have become completely different. This renewal has been recognized by experts and favored by the public.

More interestingly, Ha Le's project also received enthusiastic support from the family of the late musician Trinh Cong Son. During the premiere performances in many places, even at the gratitude party for customers and the media of singer Ha Le during the introduction phase of the "Trinh Contemporary" project, the late musician's family members were always present, specifically singer Trinh Vinh Trinh.

Singer Trinh Vinh Trinh commented: "I am surprised at what Ha Le has done. Strange but elegant and still retains the spirit of Trinh Cong Son. The singing of Khanh Ly, Hong Nhung... is very good but sometimes it is not easy to touch the hearts of the young generation. To find a new path but still retain the spirit of the musician in the work, that is very difficult. I believe Mr. Son will also really like Ha Le's music. My family fully supports what he does."

Singer Ha Le's path has received support from both experts and audiences. Because, while the cover form is used by many singers, the innovation and creativity on the old foundation should be encouraged. Ha Le shows that he has an approach to Trinh's music to bring a contemporary breath without losing the spirit of the song.

"Trinh Contemporary" is not only about new sounds and modern innovations, but also brings a fresh perspective to the cover form commonly seen in Vietnamese music life. Ha Le is quite clever in using the "pure gold" materials of Trinh's music to create something new, bearing his personal mark.

Returning to the case of the derivative version of "The Little Elephant in Ban Don", according to experts, except for "folk" works (unknown author), "creative" songs with any purpose must still ask for permission from the author, that is the necessary respect. Even if the derivative version does not bring business or commercial benefits, it still has the ability to spread the image and lyrics.

"Asking permission from the author is not difficult. This action shows necessary and appropriate respect" - musician Tien Luan commented.

According to the law, copyright includes personal rights, ownership rights and derivative rights. Personal rights are the rights of the creator of the work (this right is inviolable). Ownership rights are the right to dispose of the work. Sometimes, personal rights and ownership rights of the work do not belong to one person but to many people (for example, with works written to order, ownership rights of the work belong to the individual or organization that orders according to the agreement). Meanwhile, derivative rights are the right to use that work to create other works without violating the personal rights and ownership rights of the work stipulated in copyright.

According to the above regulations, writing new lyrics for a song or singing a cover song is allowed by law. It is a derivative right, with the condition that the author of the original work agrees.

Many famous songs have their lyrics rewritten to make promotional music videos broadcast on TV channels and social networks. The program "Gập nhau cuối năm" (Tao quan) on VTV often uses famous songs to re-write the lyrics to serve the content of the play. Cover singing (renovating the old way of singing) is a way for singers to re-create the original musical work. Singers have the right to create new arrangements and new ways of singing without violating the integrity of the song expressed in writing.

A written song can have thousands of different arrangements and singing styles. Listeners may dislike a later singer because he sings worse than the previous singers, but that does not mean that the singer is violating copyright. In fact, there are many covers that are better than the previously popular version. Musician Huy Phuong once sued a record producer for using his song to compose a vọng cổ song without the author’s permission, not because this adaptation reduced the value of his work.

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(to be continued)

Source: https://nld.com.vn/ca-khuc-phai-sinh-sang-tao-hay-pha-nat-196240414211024759.htm