Copyright Question

  • Thread starter Thread starter Zaphod B
  • Start date Start date
Zaphod B said:
Yep! The only question left to answer is, "How much?" ;)

Actually I know a few people who did contact the publisher directly and got a much reduced rate. They usually are curious to know if you are a nobody covering the songs, and if so, they are happy just to get a little fee.

I would definitely try this option if you don't want to get stuck paying too much.
 
taeyoung said:
Actually I know a few people who did contact the publisher directly and got a much reduced rate. They usually are curious to know if you are a nobody covering the songs, and if so, they are happy just to get a little fee.

I would definitely try this option if you don't want to get stuck paying too much.

What's the best/easiest way to determine who the publisher is? Is that info that can be found on the CD itself?
 
Nate74 said:
What's the best/easiest way to determine who the publisher is? Is that info that can be found on the CD itself?
The HFA web site has a song search tool that will list the songs' authors and publishers, along with the publisher's contact information.

taeyoung, thanks for the info - I wasn't really sure if it was worthwhile to pursue that option. :)
 
Zaphod B said:
taeyoung, thanks for the info - I wasn't really sure if it was worthwhile to pursue that option. :)

No problem! Also keep in mind it usually takes longer to get the OK directly from the publisher, I think the turn around time on harry Fox is like 24 hours, usually from the publisher directly it takes much longer.

Worth it to save some $$ though

:)
 
nice info guys. i had another question about cover song. im working on some cover songs from india. and those songs are around 100 yrs old and i could not find any copyright information about those songs on harryfox or anywhere else. in a case like this, do i still need to go through some legal procedures? or wat else should i do?
 
Copyrights

Copyrights are only good for so long. If they aren't resubmitted they become public domain and no fees have to be paid. Believe it or not, Happy Birthday is copyrighted and can't be used in public without paying for it.
 
If you start out with the Harry Fox Agency web site, you can find search tools that will help you determine which songs are in the public domain.

That said, I just drafted a letter to the publisher of one of the songs I want to upload to the net, asking for a free or reduced-rate license. I'll let everyone know how it turns out. This looks like it's going to be paper, snail-mail correspondence, so it won't happen overnight.
 
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