What is a copyright infringement?

What constitutes music copyright infringement?

• For example, if I perform a popular song and put it up on YouTube, is it an infringement? Performing can mean just the melody, just the chord, just the voice, just the beat, but it can also mean combining these things so that it resembles more and more like the original song.

• Answer:

  Yes, making a musical performance from someone's sheet music (even if you did not directly use the sheet music) is a copyright infringement of the song writer if done without permission. But then getting permission is easy. The music industry has a system for buying performance rights without having to "ask" for permission. You just pay and play. Note that ANY public performance of the music requires a license, not just posting it on YouTube or recording a CD. You should read the FAQ on music performance from the biggest licensing organization and consider buying a license if you want to follow up on this plan. http://www.ascap.com/licensing/licensingfaq.aspx#general