I am gonna cover&publish a very old retro video game(80’s) music. The publisher shut down their business in late 80’s. They are a Japanese developer and there is no way to contact them. I have tried to trace them, but failed.

In this case, can I cover&publish the song without their permission? If yes, what about the copyright and the license thing? Is there any possibility that I am sued or am got in trouble?

 

i cant see why not , i have done a few myself and the artist of the tunes commended me lol , i have done wizball and turrican 1 and 2 and never had a bad word said , i feel its a good effort if you can create other peoples masterpieces , it just goes to show how good a musician you are.

lee

 

i dont know your plans or your level of production so its a bit difficult to guess but
document your search for finding the rights holder, in case you may need to prove your effort, it matters.

now, most probably this will be just a step stone in your career, but there is a small chance somewhere along the way someone or some publisher will pop up, things are so automatised nowadays that if something is going to happen you should notice relatively fast after release.

much of it depends on the impact your release makes, how spread it gets and of course money.

it it all is low key, almost guaranteed nothing will happen.

 

Last edited: Oct 14, 2018

I would at least mention them in description, they may not be up to money, but it´s always good manners to mention affiliates participated, if that´s the case