Legal Or Not? |
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ven. 31 mars 2006, 22:28
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Newbie
Groupe : Members
Messages : 7
Inscrit : 31 mars 06
Lieu : San Jose - US
Membre no 78,796
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Hi guys. Wasn't sure if this was the best forum for this, but here goes.
As a hobby, a friend and I record vocals on random instrumentals of recordings that we usually find on CD singles at the record store or on the net.
They are pretty humorous and have little or nothing to do with the artist who created the instrumental. We want to create site where we can share our renditions with the public for free. We both have full time careers and have absolutely no interest in selling these songs, not that anyone would buy them, or making profit off the site. It would be fully funded by out of our own pocket and we wouldn't have any advertisers. Just a personal site.
Does anyone know if we'd run into any legal problems by doing this? Like I said, it's just a hobby. Basically, we're just two old friends from high school that get together maybe 3 times a year, drink and have some fun jamming on these recordings. They are by far from "great" quality, but they're actually not so bad, for what it's worth.
Anyway, any input or advice would be great. I just fear having some big-wig artist or label sue us for something so trivial.
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Réponse(s)
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mer. 5 avril 2006, 01:22
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Newbie
Groupe : Members
Messages : 13
Inscrit : 25 juil. 04
Lieu : Altoona - US
Membre no 47,587
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I've found this conversation stimulating, to say the least. It;s obvious a whole lot of people are PO'd at the Bigs, and, in a lot of ways, I can see their collective point. But, I must say that, when I was in country radio, I was close to a lot of the folks in the bigs, and, for the most part, found them to be decent people. That being said, I think there's some confusion on copyright law, royalties, and so forth. If I may...
If you read anything about copyright law, you'll read that a work is copyrighted (NOT "copywritten") from its moment of inception. Copyright registration just makes that a matter of public record and establishes the claimant as legal owner. YOU CANNOT GIVE UP YOUR RIGHTS UNLESS YOU SIGN THEM AWAY TO SOMEONE ELSE.
In a commercial recording, there are TWO copyrights: the underlying work, that is, the song itself and the performance copyright, the actual sound recording. They are exclusive of each other. The underlying copyright usually belongs to the author or the song's publisher TO WHOM THE AUTHOR HAS TENDERED HIS OR HER RIGHTS in exchange for promotion, royalty collection, and other compensation. The performance copyright generally belongs to the record company, because it has recorded the song. But, the record company MUST RECIEVE PERMISSION FROM EITHER THE AUTHOR OR THE PUBLISHER TO DO SO. There is a concept called "compulsory license" which means that once a song is performed in public one time, a license MUST be issued by the copyright holder.
A record company is in the business of making and selling records. An artist does, however, sign over rights to allow them to do what they do. Given that, I know they get out of hand sometimes.
In today's climate, here's what I'd do. If a record company wants to sign you, that means they think you can sell records for them. These days artists are not as naive about "the business" as in days past. So if it happens to you, YOU call the shots. YOU retain publishing (it's not hard to start your own company). YOU retain creative control over production, etc. If they don't like it, go somewhere else. There are plenty of independent labels that will be happy to have you. Of course, there'll have to be SOME give and take. Or else, start your own label! With the Internet, you can get your music out there more easily than ever.
Writers receive royalties from public performance (through ASCAP, BMI or SESAC) and mechanical reproduction (record sales). If your song is published, you receive 50% of public performance royalties, and a designated percentage of mechanical reproduction royalties (at the very least what is called the "statutory rate"). Publish your own stuff, you get it all.
I wish everyone luck with his or her music, no matter what your viewpoint. It's all about the music.
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Les messages de ce sujet
JusClownin Legal Or Not? ven. 31 mars 2006, 22:28 kaboombahchuck Sound to me like you would run into copyright infr... sam. 1 avril 2006, 01:48 JusClownin Yeah, maybe it's pointless. I'm just wond... sam. 1 avril 2006, 02:56 lepetitmartien The question is "does it goes under the ... sam. 1 avril 2006, 03:53 zooot QUOTE (lepetitmartien @ Sat 1 Apr 2006, 02... jeu. 12 oct. 2006, 18:31 zooot QUOTE (zooot @ Thu 12 Oct 2006, 17:31) QU... mar. 17 oct. 2006, 13:04 straydog Well I was in a cover band playing in a local bar ... sam. 1 avril 2006, 11:09 Mac Daddy You can't just take peoples music! Stupid... sam. 1 avril 2006, 16:41 prrcomm Doesn't matter money or no. I own 30 copyright... sam. 1 avril 2006, 16:48 lepetitmartien This kind of problems are ALWAYS better solved bef... sam. 1 avril 2006, 18:53 abcdaniel Uh, hmm, wtf? Music is about expression, wether it... dim. 2 avril 2006, 03:33 JusClownin Mac Daddy, whoa, sounds like the anti-depressants ... dim. 2 avril 2006, 06:22 hahaworld 3 things (briefly):
1. Copying music is illegal w... dim. 2 avril 2006, 06:25 abcdaniel Yeah, well, I was a bit drunk when I wrote that la... dim. 2 avril 2006, 10:12 Mac Daddy Like I said: This is plain dumb. Stupid. You are... dim. 2 avril 2006, 10:27 straydog Thou shall not possess what is, by its own nature,... dim. 2 avril 2006, 11:14 JusClownin It's good to know there are actual people who ... dim. 2 avril 2006, 13:21 prrcomm Let's extend this f**k the law concept.
Given... dim. 2 avril 2006, 17:49 JaMen "Oh, and Mac Daddy, for someone harping on or... dim. 2 avril 2006, 19:04 abcdaniel The law prohibits us from making certain music. Th... dim. 2 avril 2006, 21:53 banevt copyright laws? When an object of art is exposed ... dim. 2 avril 2006, 22:02 JusClownin I'm sorry to have started such a dialogue here... dim. 2 avril 2006, 22:12 lepetitmartien To get back on the problem sui generis, as long it... lun. 3 avril 2006, 02:06 coldharbour QUOTE (abcdaniel @ Apr 2 2006, 02:33)On a sid... lun. 3 avril 2006, 09:25 straydog Things would be simpler if artists could just solv... lun. 3 avril 2006, 11:24 abcdaniel No, PE didn't get their samples cleared and pa... lun. 3 avril 2006, 11:25 Mac Daddy You have got to be the most dumb person on Earth. ... lun. 3 avril 2006, 11:56 straydog QUOTE (Mac Daddy @ Apr 3 2006, 10:56)"No... lun. 3 avril 2006, 12:09 Mac Daddy I'm old enough to be Diddys daddy and your dad... lun. 3 avril 2006, 12:45 straydog Now I understand... it has been your huge egoism t... lun. 3 avril 2006, 13:49 lepetitmartien QUOTE (straydog @ Apr 3 2006, 12:24)LepetitMa... lun. 3 avril 2006, 19:17 straydog So, France is under copyrights confusion too... In... lun. 3 avril 2006, 20:53 abcdaniel Maybe we as musicians, composers and producers, sh... lun. 3 avril 2006, 22:09 straydog Check out this interesting link:
Pirate party
Ha... lun. 3 avril 2006, 22:37 abcdaniel Being Swedish and all... yeah, the Pirate Party is... mar. 4 avril 2006, 00:16 lepetitmartien I won't comment on the social issues in France... mar. 4 avril 2006, 03:03 abcdaniel In Sweden we have a new law since july 2005, that ... mar. 4 avril 2006, 10:01 coldharbour QUOTE (abcdaniel @ Apr 3 2006, 10:25)No, PE d... mar. 4 avril 2006, 11:22 straydog "When you make a recording deal or a publishi... mar. 4 avril 2006, 12:53 kaboombahchuck Just a bit of info for those that don't want t... mar. 4 avril 2006, 14:22 abcdaniel Oh, i was wrong about PE not having the samples cl... mar. 4 avril 2006, 16:02 JusClownin Just another question to toss into this bucket:
D... mar. 4 avril 2006, 21:14 kaboombahchuck Most clubs where DJs and cover bands play pay fees... mer. 5 avril 2006, 00:25 coldharbour QUOTE (abcdaniel @ Apr 4 2006, 15:02)But anyw... mer. 5 avril 2006, 11:53 straydog A few remarks:
There are decent people everywhere... mer. 5 avril 2006, 13:12 abcdaniel coldharbour, I think we could go on forever...
... mer. 5 avril 2006, 16:14 JusClownin To me, money corrupts culture. Yeah, yeah, I know... mer. 5 avril 2006, 19:05 zooot when the clever part of your work was the clever p... jeu. 6 avril 2006, 12:36 uvbnskoold Ummm... yeah. You don't wanna know what I thi... mer. 31 mai 2006, 01:53 Mac Daddy QUOTE (zooot @ Thu 6 Apr 2006, 11:36) whe... jeu. 12 oct. 2006, 18:50
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