What does "No covers on wikiloops" mean exactly?
"Cover songs" describes any songs or lyrics which have been written and/or performed by a band or artist, and then been re-recorded (= covered) by a second artist or band.
While the original author's first record is referred to as the "original song", any following recordings of the same song by other musicians are "cover songs".
The issue with cover songs is that -based on copyright law- royalties are due to the song's original author or their legal representation agency, and -depending on the covered track and the intended type of use- may even require the original author's explicit consent if the original work is changed in any way.
The easiest way to avoid any costly legal trouble when operating wikiloops and offering musicians a place to share and collaborate on music is to steer very clear of any cover songs, and stick to a strict "our own compositions and ideas only"-policy.
The wikiloops moderation team is bound to enforce the no-covers rule whenever users do not follow this simple policy.
Before having to face the well-paid lawyers of big labels who are rightfully claiming their artists' royalties + a fine, our moderators do not hesitate to close user accounts of people who do breach the "no covers" rules.
help article was written by Richard Kaiser on and last edited on
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