Copyright to paid Musicians....

  • Thread starter Thread starter VOXVENDOR
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VOXVENDOR

VOXVENDOR

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This'l be a good one:D

Say I write a basic song on the guitar and sing along with words I wrote....

What if I call in a paid guitar player to give me his best solo...?

What if I get a paid drummer to write a neat beat for the tune?

What if I get a paid bass player to add some cool lines to the tune?


Keep in mind these are all paid musicians im talking about....

Nancy at the label im dealing with, says that if I wrote the basic song, and im paying them to do session work (rather than a royaltie situation) all the songwriting credits would go to me...

Sounds good, that is what I would think also...

BUT...

What do you guys think...?
 
Voxvendor,

She is correct that you would still retain the rights. What you are really registering is the lyrics and melody. The other people are only playing a variation. Since you wrote the original, then you are the copyright holder.

The people you hire to do the recording are not contributing to the original work and their contract should state that they are playing your original work, then as soon as they are paid the agreed upon amount, you are free and clear.
 
i might beg to differ here.....maybe....they have rights as performers unless you get them to sign off that they were paid and have no rights......
 
Easy one....... "Work for Hire Agreement"............... Doesn't matter if you write the song or they do if you pay them on a work for hire basis and have an agreement on the price to be paid----upon payment to that artist you own the copyright period. without an agreement anything can be disputed...............
 
and now im re-reading the original post....songwriting wise, they'll have no claim to copyright.....thats yours....

its the performance/recording part where they may lay claim....
 
Gidge said:
http://www.indigipix.com/musicrelease.pdf
Click to expand...

Gidge,

That is a pretty old agreement. I noticed right off that the resolution clause goes straight to court instead of trying to use an alternate dispute resolution such as mediation.

I think that gec is right in saying that it is a "work for hire." In that case, it would be the same as the inventor who develops a product while working for a company. The patent and all rights go to the company, not the inventor.

Just my $0.02!
 
Just a note...

The "Work Made For Hire" agreement does not apply to sound recordings. The reason for this is because the work was not performed in a "work enviroment" and the song writer does not have the authority to order the musicians to perform another song. This places sound recordings out of the "work made for hire" category.

Professional songwriters that write for publishing companies, and create their songs at a studio located at the publishing company can be considered as making "works for hire".

Hired musician are hired as side musicians and there parts are not considered copyrightable material. The only way that any of them could stake a legal claim in the copyright is if they, and the song writer, signed an agreement stating this prior to the creation of the recording.
 
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