Paying for the rights to do cover songs

mjbphotos

mjbphotos

Moderator
I know you need to pay for the rights to use a cover song on a commercial release - but what about when you are not releasing the song commercially?
Posting a cover song on youtube or soundcloud for a contest, or for mixing critiques?

I was trying NOT to argue with someone the other day at my songwriting group about it - she pays for the rights, yet only puts these cover songs on places like Reverbnation and Bandmix, not for sale anywhere. She was insisting that since they can be 'streamed' from those places, she should (and does) pay.
 
I agree with your friend. If it's a public performance or a recorded cover, royalties or mechanicals should go to the songwriter. Revenue from the performance is not a contributing factor.

However, 99.999% choose not to pay for the use of someone else's material.
 
mjbphotos said:
I know you need to pay for the rights to use a cover song on a commercial release - but what about when you are not releasing the song commercially?
Posting a cover song on youtube or soundcloud for a contest, or for mixing critiques?

I was trying NOT to argue with someone the other day at my songwriting group about it - she pays for the rights, yet only puts these cover songs on places like Reverbnation and Bandmix, not for sale anywhere. She was insisting that since they can be 'streamed' from those places, she should (and does) pay.
Click to expand...

Technically, as far as I know, you need a license or permission even to record the song, never mind duplicating or publishing it.
Places like youtube blur the lines because they ask you to acknowledge third party content and often the owner is happy to generate revenue from ads on your video, but the broad rule is that you should pay for the appropriate license before you make the recording.

There will be different fees for different works and different intentions.
I know a friend of mine got a license to record and sell no more than 100 (I think) digital copies of a song through iTunes.
I presume it's up to him to have the track pulled once you hit the limit. I don't know.

In the real world most people probably just make their recording, stick it on youtube/soundcloud/whatever and don't think about it.
That doesn't make it right, though. ;)
 
I think it's up to Youtube to have that in place and they do have some sort of agreement.
For recording a CD I know there is a license you have to buy but it doesn't cover all possibilities such as playing live.

In fact, I'm not sure if there is a personal license available for playing live because when BMI and ASCAP come down on someone it is never the musician. It's always the venue that pays
For example ..... to play a cover in a club is NOT the responsibility of the musician and he can't buy a license that covers it......
it is each and every club you play it in.
So I imagine for the small time non-pro the responsibility lies with youtube as it is the 'venue' that the song is being played in.
 
I'm not talking about playing live, that money to the songwriter comes from the PROs. Although what about if you record backing tracks to a cover song, and use it in your live performance? :o

Look at all the covers people have posted here in the MP3 Clinic recently - I assume no one has paid for the rights on these?
 
I haven't paid for the last bunch of covers I've done. But that's only because I haven't put together a CD in a few years. When I do put a CD together, and upload it to CDBABY, I buy the licensing.The last time I paid for licensing, it was something like 10 cents a copy of what I expected to sell. So, I paid $10, which is 100 copies even though I knew I wouldn't sell anywhere near that. My point is, that it's really not expensive at all.
 
Chili said:
I agree with your friend. If it's a public performance or a recorded cover, royalties or mechanicals should go to the songwriter. Revenue from the performance is not a contributing factor.

However, 99.999% choose not to pay for the use of someone else's material.
Click to expand...

Obviously, if there are royalties, you should be paying.
But I don't earn a single cent off of the covers that I do and I'm obviously crediting the creators of the tracks.

I don't know the law about this though.
 
Lt. Bob said:
For recording a CD I know there is a license you have to buy but it doesn't cover all possibilities such as playing live.
Click to expand...

mjbphotos said:
I'm not talking about playing live, that money to the songwriter comes from the PROs. Although what about if you record backing tracks to a cover song, and use it in your live performance? :o
Click to expand...

If you record anything that you didn't write you need permission or a license.
If you perform a song, that you didn't write, live then the venue should have a license with a PRO which covers you.
If the venue don't have that I am pretty sure it's their problem - not yours. If they tell you that up front then it might actually be yours.

For using a backing track live - If someone else made it under license then the venue's PRO license covers you.
Reproduction and performance are covered.

If you recorded it then you should still have gotten permission or a license to do so, but the venue's PRO license covers the live performance of that recording of someone else's song. See?
 
On this subject, is there a quick and easy way to find the copyright holder and pay them? I went through the mill to get permissions to record a cover of a song from the 80s because even though the writer is still alive, he's changed labels several times since the song was written and I had to track him down. Googling for info on how to didn't yield anything easy or even useful, either. Got permission, and since my rendition was nothing like the original (except chord change and lyric/melody) they did not ask for any compensation, which I thought was nice considering how much time it took me to find them...
 
mjbphotos said:
Look at all the covers people have posted here in the MP3 Clinic recently - I assume no one has paid for the rights on these?
Click to expand...
They should be, but who's going to check. No one cares until there is a large amount of money lost.

Schwarzenyaeger said:
Obviously, if there are royalties, you should be paying.
But I don't earn a single cent off of the covers that I do and I'm obviously crediting the creators of the tracks.

I don't know the law about this though.
Click to expand...

It's not a matter of whether you earn money from doing a cover or not. If you play someone else's song for a public performance or a recording, they should get paid for it. But again, no one is going to come after you for it unless you make a lot of money.

Steenamaroo said:
If you record anything that you didn't write you need permission or a license.
Click to expand...
Yup!!
Steenamaroo said:
If the venue don't have that I am pretty sure it's their problem - not yours. .
Click to expand...

I remember reading something a while back on either the BMI or ASCAP website about this topic. The venue typically has a license, but if they don't and they don't pay the PRO's, the obligation falls on the artist. They recommend asking the bar owner/manager before performing.
 
Chili said:
I remember reading something a while back on either the BMI or ASCAP website about this topic. The venue typically has a license, but if they don't and they don't pay the PRO's, the obligation falls on the artist. They recommend asking the bar owner/manager before performing.
Click to expand...

Good to know. Thanks Chili. :)
 
BroKen_H said:
On this subject, is there a quick and easy way to find the copyright holder and pay them? I went through the mill to get permissions to record a cover of a song from the 80s because even though the writer is still alive, he's changed labels several times since the song was written and I had to track him down. Googling for info on how to didn't yield anything easy or even useful, either. Got permission, and since my rendition was nothing like the original (except chord change and lyric/melody) they did not ask for any compensation, which I thought was nice considering how much time it took me to find them...
Click to expand...

HarryFox.com
 
BroKen_H said:
On this subject, is there a quick and easy way to find the copyright holder and pay them? I went through the mill to get permissions to record a cover of a song from the 80s because even though the writer is still alive, he's changed labels several times since the song was written and I had to track him down. Googling for info on how to didn't yield anything easy or even useful, either. Got permission, and since my rendition was nothing like the original (except chord change and lyric/melody) they did not ask for any compensation, which I thought was nice considering how much time it took me to find them...
Click to expand...

Publishing and recording labels have nothing to do with each other. The record label usually owns the performance (when it is played on the radio) and the publishing company (or writer) owns the right for use of the song. Normally you can track down who is handling the publishing rights to a song.

You take Paul McCartney for example, he has to pay Sony and Michael Jackson's estate every time he plays a Beatles song. He no longer owns those songs. Apple Records still gets a cut from the recording.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top