Redesign of existing information - copyright infringement?

[Moyfey]

Hi

Could anyone advise if the following is an infringement of copyright please?
I have taken information from a record sleeve - the name of the album, the artist, the track list, the musicians, the recording studio etc - and designed a poster with this information. This is a text only poster and contains no imagery, photography or reproduction of the album artwork at all - just the details.
Ideally, I would like to produce a range of these posters to sell. They would be aimed at people with a connection and affection for the albums - they will be famous/classic albums - but there will be no visual similarities, just information content.

Would I need permission to do this, particularly as I would like to sell them?

I hope that makes sense, any advice greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Tim

[AndyJ]

Hi Tim,

Provided that the source of the information you wish to use is the album sleeve itself, and not, say, some online database, then there shouldn't be any copyright issues with what you propose. Databases are protected in a different manner, but since you don't mention them, I won't elaborate the subject here.

The other thing to avoid is any large scale quoting of liner notes and bits which are more opinion or comment, rather than facts. Names of artists, composers and songwriters, the names of the tracks and their duration are all facts and so you can reproduce them in whatever manner your wish. Unlike US copyright law, the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 doesn't explicitly say that facts are not subject to copyright, but there is plenty of caselaw which does establish that to be the case,

[Moyfey]

Hi Andy

Thanks so much for the quick and helpful response. I have seen examples of this kind of execution, albeit in a different style to what I propose, successfully retailing so I presumed/hoped that this would be the case. Your reply encourages me to develop the concept further.

Greatly appreciated!
Tim