Theft of Services!

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mam

The Round Mound of Sound
So .... stupid me. Recently was ripped off for a buncha bucks, from a Pastor! Surprised the hell outta me. I usually use the "Ok. I estimate this much time. I'll need a third down, a third halfway through & the balance when we're done." But, I say to myself, here's a "man of the cloth". He's in the process of moving his church .. money's tight, I'm sure he'll pay me. Lesson to be learned, TRUST NO ONE! Anyway, enough of my sob story. I have a thought & input is appreciated. From now on when I make test copies for clients to take home and listen to, I'm thinking of adding an "annoyance" track. Maybe every 30 seconds I would hit my test tone & add it to the mix. That way they wouldn't be able to take the test mix & copy the living daylights out of it ... make money from it .... AND NOT PAY THE STUDIO THAT WORKED IT"S ASS OFF! (I even gave the bastard a 40% discount. boy am I a shithead)

Ohhhhhh, I feel better now!

Anyway, what do you guys think of the test tone theory?
 
Stand outside of his church on Sunday morning, and distribute a flyer to the congregation--that calmly and clearly explains what happened including the 40% discount etc.

Warn the Jesus pimp first (but don't tell him which sunday), you might even wind up getting paid.

Just remember. He started it. :eek:

-Jtt
 
Just out of curiosity, how much money are we talking about? Have you sent him a bill?

I wouldn't recommend jet-rocker's approach unless you're prepared to defend yourself in a lawsuit, which means that you had better have lots of stuff in writing to back up your claims.

I think the test tone idea has some merit. When I worked in a studio, I would always do something to the mix to make it unusable for anything but a reference -- cut off the last couple of bars, make the bass way too loud, etc. -- unless the customer had a good long-term relationship with the studio.
 
Skip the pranks--they might have you hauled off for trespass which isn't going to help you recover--and file a case in small claims court against the church.

You might need to serve process against an elder rather than the pastor, not sure about that but you should be able to check the state corporation commission's office for the name of the church's registered agent, that's who you need to serve.

Better get used to it, if you stay in business longer enough, you'll have to do it again. Make sure you have written contracts (you don't absolutely need one to prevail in court, but it helps quite a lot), but most of all, don't turn over masters until you are paid. Give 'em 30 sec clips if they want to hear rough mixes. The tone idea works but is a little weird, might turn off clients, harm referrals, etc.
 
Go to his church next sunday and sit front row/center.Dont say or
do anything,just give him the hairy eyeball.When he does the alter call walk on down,and when he reaches out to take your hand,lean over and whisper"Do you think we could settle your outstanding bill after the service?"
sheppard
 
ITS NOT TRESSPASSING IF YOU HANG OUT ON THE SIDEWALK. I dont trust preists any more than any one else- some even less
 
Actually a pastor would be much MORE likely to cheat you. I don't record any religious music in my studio or label - and certainly would never trust the word of a mythopath!
 
CrystalStudios said:
Actually a pastor would be much MORE likely to cheat you. I don't record any religious music in my studio or label - and certainly would never trust the word of a mythopath!
Click to expand...



Amen to that!




Um, I mean...
 
Sorry if I'm stating the obvious, but have you asked him for the payment once again?
 
$1,400.00 bucks worth ... Oh yeah, I asked for payment, quite a few times and then I started to lose my cool. He said he'd be here in a few days. At that point his e-mail no longer worked & his cell phone & land line are non-existent. A certified letter came back unclaimed, and his church has an ad in the paper for a new pastor. House appears vacant. Seems it's a non-denominational church. This week he's a preacher, next week a rock star, a month from now an iron worker. Shame too, he was damn good. A cross between Lionel Ritchie & Stevie Wonder.

Test tone is a bad idea, eh?
 
First, you need to contact the remaining members, such as the Deacon and Elders, as mentioned before. This kind of weakness may be why the church is looking for a new pastor.

This isn't a sermon, but remember this: "ALL have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God." This means you can't trust someone on the basis of a leadership position in a church. I'm sure I needn't remind you of all the children who have been molested by a small group of priests in the Catholic church, and the dispicable way the situation was mis-handled by the church leadership.

Find out who is accountable for business undertaken on behalf of the church. Calmy explain your problem, and your dedication to the idea of receiving payment for your work. This is a Biblical imperative that the elder board cannot ignore. If this work was undertaken stricly for the personal use of the pastor, then you can try and locate him and bring a suit in small claims. Hopefully, the work was done for the church. If discussing the problem fails to bring action, the next easiest step would be to contact the local newspaper or television station. Bad press is a bane to a church.

The last step is the small claims court, and the maximum amount of your recovery varies from state to state. In Pennsylvania, small claims can go up to $2,000. After that, we go to a more formal proceeding that requires attorneys, and attorney fees. The office of the prothonotary can give you guidance.

Hope this helps.
 
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The project appears to have been for the "pastor's" personal use. I appear to be glued, screwed, & probably tatooed. Suggestions were appreciated, thanks.

No more comments on the test tone thing?
 
I think the test tone might be a good idea. A technique that the mp3 world uses is releasing the song with small parts garbled or cut out. Instead of the tone you could edit in yourself saying that this is an upaid for copy and only to be used by your client to listen to any other use is in violation of such and such.
 
I sugguest you talk to the deacons or elders of the church to get your money.

Now in regards to test tones, I would give them a REALLY bad quality recording. Such as an mp3 that's mono, 8 bit and 32kbps
 
I second the test tone. Giving out a bad quality recording is bad publicity for your facility, people could think that's the kind of 'quality' recordings you produce. Put in something annoying, but that doesn't disturb the actual listening or quality of the recording, after all, it's a copy to check out mix/quality, right ?

About the pastor: you could always 'make him an offer he cannot refuse', or just put a horse's head in his bed :cool:


Herwig
 
I hear a lot of demo MP3's now have voice overs part way through them so they can't be used (unless you like your tunes with voiceovers :rolleyes: ). A lot of them will say something like "coming out mid-august, the latest release from bla bla bla"...I suppose you could put in instead something like ... "This is only a demo. All those who rip me off will forever burn in hell". :D.
 
Pastor update

So, lo & behold, local paper runs an article on this jerk today. Talks about his new church & cd. (Hmmm, I didn't give him the masters) Going to the lawyer on Monday!
Dab nab it .... gonna get him ..... kill kill kill .... terminate, yeah, that's it .. I'll call Arnold!
 
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