sciencebase
New member
In England, what are the rules about recording cover songs and putting them on a CD that you give to friends and possibly might be able to sell to friends of friends? Presumably, need licence do we?
Cover Songs and Licensing
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Chili
Site Moderator
Whether you sell or not, doesn't matter, if you cover someone's song, you have to license it or get their permission.
Most songs can be licensed from teh Harry Fox agency, I believe this applies to in England. If not, you can probably google Harry Fox equivalent or something like that.
Most songs can be licensed from teh Harry Fox agency, I believe this applies to in England. If not, you can probably google Harry Fox equivalent or something like that.
R
RAMI
Guest
Exactly. And it's like 9 cents times the number you think you'll sell. So, if you think you're going to sell 100 copies of the song (or your CD with the song on it), it will cost you about $9.00 for a little piece of mind.
Chili
Site Moderator
You're the only person I know that goes through the trouble. But I don't think it's a difficult process, is it?
Hm, I should probably make this a new thread....
[Edit: I did...]
R
RAMI
Guest
I'm pretty sure it's the same thing. I probably shouldn't have said "sell". It's probably the amount you plan to print or have people download. I'm not 100% sure. It's a bit of an honor system thing. I'm sure you can not go through the process and the chances of the original artist's lawyers ever finding out about you are extremely thin....or fat.....(why do "slim chance" and "fat chance" mean the same thing?
).But considering the price and effort, you could just do it and have a little piece of mind. To be honest, I haven't done it for all my covers. I did for the 4 that I put on my last CD, though.
sciencebase
New member
Thanks people.
VomitHatSteve
Hat STYLE. Not contents.
(why do "slim chance" and "fat chance" mean the same thing?
I think it's a sarcasm thing in the latter case. "Yeah, fat chance of that, buddy!" vs. "The chances are slim, my friend."
So you're saying that the half a dozen covers of Kenny Loggins' "Danger Zone" that I've got on YouTube could get me in real trouble if they ever found them?
Michael Mason
New member
From my research:
If you are going to sell a cover, in any form, you must license it.
If you are going to perform a cover at a gig or something, the artist already gets paid for it.
If, however, you are making money on the gig you perform the cover, technically, you have to pay for the license, but unless a rep from the artist is there, you don't have anything to worry about, really.
If you are just recording a cover to give out to some of your friends, or for school, or just playing a song on a street corner, you do not have to pay for it.
Really, the defining quality is if you are going to make money off it.
If you are going to sell a cover, in any form, you must license it.
If you are going to perform a cover at a gig or something, the artist already gets paid for it.
If, however, you are making money on the gig you perform the cover, technically, you have to pay for the license, but unless a rep from the artist is there, you don't have anything to worry about, really.
If you are just recording a cover to give out to some of your friends, or for school, or just playing a song on a street corner, you do not have to pay for it.
Really, the defining quality is if you are going to make money off it.