Define Copyright

[Fmmahoganyrush]

Does anybody have a real handle on copyright laws? I've read opinions ranging from the ridiculous to the sublime. From "you can be sued for even singing someone else's song in the shower", to "you can record, and sell someone else's song, just as long as you give them credit for writing the song on the insert of your recording", to "it's OK as long as the bar that you recorded the cover tune in pays their dues to the union". What's the REAL DEAL???? Thanx, Tom.

 

[micmac]

Hi Tom,

You can keep singing in the shower, no worries. I'm sure it's part of the rights to personal use of any song.

If you record someone else's song and then sell the recording, you not only have to give them the credit, you also have to pay them royalties - money for using their 'product'. Where you recorded it doesn't really matter, if you're making money - they wanna make money. Giving the recording away on a larger scale would probably require somekind of 'OK' from the owner of the song.

The thing about the bar and the union is in part true. A bar (or basically any other business) can get a license from BMI, http://www.bmi.com/ ,to use music in their establishment. Such a license would include cover songs played by bands in the bar as well as CDs through the regular stereo system. There are a couple of million songs covered by this license thing, so i guess anything goes more or less. Again, if you record a cover song and sell it you're back to paying royalties cause the license doesn't deal with that part.

There's tons of more stuff to this, but i hoped this helped a bit.

mm

 

[DavidK]

Hi Tom,
Is MicMac said, keep singing your ACDC and opera
arias in the shower, just watch out for Norman
Bates and " Mother".

You wrote: "you can record, and sell someone else's song, just as long as you give them credit for writing the song on the insert of your recording".

Thats not true, I guarantee you. You must have written
permission from the owner of the copyright, and
usually a financial agreement will be made as well.
They dont generally mess with the little guys,
but if you are making a good profit, they want a
piece of the action.

Micmac is also right about bars and other businesses:
they pay a yearly fee to ASCAP or BMI, which
means they can play any songs in their catalogs.
Most bars dont do this, of course, but other
businesses do. Symphony Orchestras do, I know from
experience. If they do a pops concert and do stuff
from Cats or Phantom, they dont pay LLoyd Webber,
they pay ASCAP.

The bottom line is Money, of course. The sampling
world is vague, but if you have a hit, like Vanilla
Ice did when he stole off Queen, lawyers will be
everywhere. If you do a cover tune on an album
that sells 20 copies, you are safe.

I am a Union Member, for 20 years now.One thing
I have learned in making over 50 CDs is that
the major record companies will screw musicians
constantly, but they will not be screwed themselves,
thats why they have huge legal Departments.
Look at Napsters settlement the other day; that
one billion dollars will go to the companies,
not the artists.
You wrote:
"it's OK as long as the bar that you recorded the cover tune in pays their dues to the union"

Again, not true. The bar couldnt care less, they
dont make recordings. The Union doesnt care
either, they dont make Recordings, in fact, they
are supposed to be on the Musicians Side, as
long as the Musician is a Union Member, and is
up to date on his/her work dues.

To play a cover tune in a bar is probably
not gonna get you in trouble, lets face it,
it is done all the time. Occasionally some
asswipe might complain, but it wont go
anywhere in a court.
To use an original recording on a video, film,
or recording is where the money comes in.

I played with REM on the CD "out of time"
( I play violin). I dont get any money for
CDs sold, but if they use those recordings in a film
or TV, I get a New Use payment. Its usually
about $140 per new use, so if a lowly violinist
like me is getting that, the record company
is making a small fortune. I have gotten
10 of those so far.

The best rule to remember about copyright laws is;

If nobody is making much money, nobody cares.
If somebody is making some money, they might care.
If you make lots of money,they want it all.
Cheers, David

 

[dachay2tnr]

There are two issues with copyrights - broadcasting the music and recording/distributing the music.

Broadcasting is for things like on-air radio play of a song. This is generally handled by groups like BMI or ASCAP who collect artist royalties for the use of the music.

Recording/distributing is handled by the Harry Fox Agency and covers, for example, making and selling a CD containing a copyrighted song.

You can generally buy a mechanical license from Harry Fox which will allow you to record and sell up to 2500 copies for $.0755/song per copy.