Hello friends and family.
I nearly released a song for June, a tribute I wrote ten years ago, to heroes and loved ones passed on, but at the last minute I decided it's not ready for release. I wrestled a bit with wanting to stick to my one song per month plan, but I decided I'd rather produce higher quality than quantity. I should have it finished within the next week or two.
In other news, A WORD OF WARNING! I got quite the shock, last month, when I received an email from Resolve SA, a company that seeks and finds copyright infringed publications, and sues, on behalf of their clients.
In my case, the client was Agence France-Presse, a French media company. The picture was one of a pile of rubble left after an earthquake. It was one of the many photos that I found online and altered, for my book, "On Point Polly." Though the illustration only depicted the outer edges of the picture, as my text filled the center, and was cartooned and embellished, A.I. found it and let me know I was in trouble. It didn't mattter that I was ignorant of the rights requirements (I should have known), or that Omni Publications was non-profit, or that I didn't make money on book sales; they said I owed them quite a bit of money. I was able to negotiate a 50% reduction, based on my "excuses," but even that was heart-ache to fork out.
I also had to remove my book from my sites.
Lesson learned.
So, my WARNING is this: always check copyright license requirements when using anything online for your own creative purposes. Even if you find it on a creative commons site. By anything, I mean music, pictures, video clips, text (unless cited), etc.
The good news is, my daughter, who's becoming quite the artist, has agreed to re-illustrate the book for me. I don't know how long it will take, but "On Point Polly" will be re-published, better than ever!
On another note. I received some professional feedback on my song, "Instrument of Peace," from Joe Gilder, of Home Studio Corner's Recording, Mixing and Mastering course. I submitted the song for his review, because I really like it, and I like the way it makes me feel, but I couldn't seem to figure out why the volume on some formats (like YouTube), would expand and contract. Turns out I overprocessed the heck out of that song, making it far too loud, boomy and muddy!
I was so embarrassed! I had to go back twice to edit it. Finally, I stripped it down to it's original state, adjusted the volume on one vocal harmony, and presto change-o.... ahhh, much better.! So, I have re-posted the song on all my platforms. Please take a listen, let it put you into a contemplative, medative frame of mind, and enjoy, and don't forget to like and subscribe.
Another lesson learned.
Such is life. Trial and error. Hopefully we learn from our mis-takes and mis-steps and grow more adept as we go. That's my prayer for me and for you.
That's all, for now. Blessings to you all!
Leah
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