I am working on a game which will allow players to create and share beatmaps. These are essentially levels of the game that are synced to the timing of a song.
Would these beatmaps be considered transformative enough to not be covered under the copyright of the original song? Or would they be a derivative work, therefore requiring permission of the original song's copyright holder to distribute?
What about if the beatmaps are created automatically by an algorithm? How much transformation needs to be done by a computer to a copyrighted work for it to no longer be covered by the original copyright?
I should also clarify that the game itself won't include the songs, only the beatmaps.
Thanks!
