use of mp3 clip on personal website under AL intellectual property law

The short answer is probably "No." or "Not without permission" There are various copyright issues including the copyright to the song that is being performed on the clip and the actual clip itself. An "SR" copyright copyrights the sound recording of a song and may be owned by the artist who appeared on the clip or the person who recorded the clip or even a third party. I am sure the artist who is appearing would love to promote the event in any way possible ,so why not obtain his permission? If he does not own the copyright to the clip perhaps he can steer you to the entity that does and you can obtain permission from that source. If the clip is already on a site, perhaps you can just add a link to it from your site as opposed to actually uploading it onto the site itself.

I agree with Oscar.

Unless you're using the 20 second clip as parody or in news reporting (and your website can reasonably be construed as a news or blog site) then inserting the mp3 on your website invades the copyright interest of whoever owns the words and music that comprise the song (usually a music publishing house) and whoever owns the particular recording of the song (usually a record label). The "fair use" defense to a copyright infringement claim is difficult (and expensive) to prove and does not fit well when a fan is doing the publishing. As far as "getting permission," that can be somewhat involved because most performing artists of any stature do not own the copyright to the music they write or to the sound recordings they create. If you often post mp3's on your site then you could explore taking out a blanket license to digitally perform the songs' words and music from BMI, ASCAP, and/or SESAC. BMI has a good FAQ section: < http://www.bmi.com/newmedia/entry/533605 >. If you chose this licensing route, you would need to also visit the SoundExchange website to explore taking out a license to digitally perform the sound recordings themselves. Its website is < http://soundexchange.com/ > and it also has a good FAQ section.

Note that the above discussion is NOT legal advice but rather general information that is NOT intended to be acted upon w/o consultation with a competent attorney.

I take a slightly different approach to answering the question than the other lawyers, and that is to ask another question: How much of a risk are you willing to take? The good and bad thing about fair use is that it is meant to be a situation-specific release valve from the otherwise harsh rules of the copyright law.

Copyright is a strict liability statute: If you exercise an author's exclusive rights without permission, you are an infringer, unless you meet an exception such as fair use. Because fair use is so fact specific, it is near impossible to give a straight answer to the question "Is this fair use?" It's all about context. Are you profiting in any way from the presence of the clip on your website? Is your use for purposes of commentary or criticism? Even if the clip is short, is it the "heart" of the work? And most importantly, does your use have the potential to undermine the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work? These are the kinds of questions a court will ask in analyzing your fair use defense.

Fair use also somewhat reflects the economic realities of bringing a law suit -- the more likely a use is fair, the less likely the copyright owner is to incur the costs of suing, unless there are factors other than the economics coming into play in the decision to litigate. But in the end, the fair use defense is just that: a defense to infringement, not a free pass. And when you are a defendant, you have no choice but to litigate or pay up. So consider carefully your options.