united-states copyright music
Legality of Music Transcription Service
<p>I'm considering creating a music transcription service as a side hobby project. With this service, clients could request that I transcribe a song (or parts of a song) for them in exchange for a fee. I would then send the client a PDF version of my transcription.</p>

<p>From my understanding, it is illegal when you sell or give away any derivative form of a copyrighted song (including sheet music). With this service, I do not intend to publish or sell sheet music. I would merely create the transcription, and give it to the client that requested it for a fee. </p>

<p>I understand it is perfectly legal to transcribe a song you purchased yourself, as long as it is for personal use. Does this become copyright infringement when someone else pays you to transcribe a song they've purchased, and this person is the only one who will get the transcription? </p>

<p>It is not "perfectly legal" to transcribe music for personal use. It is pretty likely that you can get away with it. The first thing to understand is that the act of transcribing is the creation of a derivative work (see the <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/101" rel="nofollow noreferrer">definitions part of Title 17</a>). The core protection is <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/106" rel="nofollow noreferrer">section 106</a>, which states that the owner of copyright has the exclusive right to prepare derivative works based upon the copyrighted work. So it is not permitted to prepare derivative works, e.g. transcriptions, without permission from the copyright owner. There is a big however: <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/107" rel="nofollow noreferrer">section 107</a> provides a possible loophole, "fair use". If you were to be sued for violation of copyright in making an unauthorized derivative work, your attorney might well advise you to set forth a fair use defense. This <a href="https://law.stackexchange.com/q/7683/4501">question and answer</a> summarizes the basics of the fair use defense. Probably the most important factor would be the 4th factor, the effect on market -- in the circumstance that you describe, the effect is likely to be low. If you do this as a paid service for others and not just for personal amusement, then a fair use defense becomes a stretch. </p>
