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so you what to be a rock star...


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okay I have been talking with "my people" and it looks as I am going to recording/produceing/engineerin/(all that other great stuff) my first cd over the christmas holidays. the group I will be recording is a jazz choir (all male). Upon further conversation, the leader of the group mentioned that they didn't really hae any of there own songs they were planing on recording songs created (and copyright I assume) by other...for example they are doing a U2 song. What do you need to do in terms of rights to record your version of other peoples songs on to a cd (for profit), and if they have bought an offial score for the music are the rights to record it included? any information you can give me is great . Thanks Craig and all! Kevin Nemrava kevinnem@hotmail.com
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[quote]Originally posted by knemrava: [b]okay I have been talking with "my people" and it looks as I am going to recording/produceing/engineerin/(all that other great stuff) my first cd over the christmas holidays. the group I will be recording is a jazz choir (all male). Upon further conversation, the leader of the group mentioned that they didn't really hae any of there own songs they were planing on recording songs created (and copyright I assume) by other...for example they are doing a U2 song. What do you need to do in terms of rights to record your version of other peoples songs on to a cd (for profit),[/b] You need a Mechanical License to do this. Call The Harry Fox Agency in NYC for info at (212) 370-5330. Their website is located at: http://www.nmpa.org/hfa.html [b] and if they have bought an offial score for the music are the rights to record it included? any information you can give me is great . Thanks Craig and all! Kevin Nemrava kevinnem@hotmail.com[/b] Nope, the sheet music never (as far as I've ever seen) carries a right to record it. You need a mechanical license from the copyright owner (usually the publishing company). Call Fox - they can help you out in getting the licenses. Failure to obtain the licenses can cost you BIG TIME... Good luck with your project, Phil O'Keefe Sound Sanctuary Recording Riverside CA http://members.aol.com/ssanctuary/index.html email: pokeefe777@msn.com [/quote]
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...so in high school , when we recorded a cd of the jazz band, of a bunch of songs other people composed, (and I don't think we paid any of this stuff) that was illegal, correct? also I live in canada, that make any diffence abou twho to contact? PS thankx a ton guys!!!
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[quote]Originally posted by knemrava: [b]...so in high school , when we recorded a cd of the jazz band, of a bunch of songs other people composed, (and I don't think we paid any of this stuff) that was illegal, correct? also I live in canada, that make any diffence abou twho to contact? PS thankx a ton guys!!![/b][/quote] I'm not a lawyer... anything I say should be checked out with your barrister if you have any questions. However, I believe Canada has signed on to the same international copyright treaties that the USA has, and that they have similar copyright laws, and honor US copyrights. In any event, I know a lot less about what the "rules" are in Canada than I do about the USA, simply because I do business in the USA, and not in Canada. Maybe your high school is considered a "non-profit" entity under Canadian laws. But if they sold the recordings as a fund raiser in the USA, they'd have to pay mechanical license fees or be in violation of US law, and subject to lawsuits. And those lawsuits traditionally have big teeth - the awards and punitive fines are usually severe. It's also possible that some of those songs you did in High School were old and in the "public domain" and no longer covered by copyrights. They DO expire eventually. Currently in the USA, it's life of the author plus 50 (I believe) years... For example, if you want to do something by Bach, you're probably okay - unless you're doing a new arrangement that is covered under a new copyright... I do know that in the USA, there are cases where you can use a copyright covered work without compensation or permission - these are covered in a "fair use clause" in the US laws. Such things as use for scholarship, short quotes used in reviews, certain religious uses, etc. are covered... but if you're doing it FOR PROFIT, I'm sorry to tell you that chances are pretty much 100% that you will HAVE to pay for the use of the works. You may not want to hear what I'm trying to say, and you may not like it, but that's the rules. You can violate them, but I strongly suggest that you do not. First of all, don't you think the person who OWNS the work deserves compensation for your use of THEIR their intellectual property? They wrote it and you want to use it. They deserve compensation. Not paying them for the use of said work is akin to walking into a store and grabbing a book and walking out without paying for it. Or pirating computer software. Or hooking up to a cable TV system without paying for it. Would YOU like it if I made bootleg copies of your album and sold them online? Secondly, if you choose to ignore the laws, you open yourself up to severe fines and penalties. Not a pretty proposition, and certainly not the way to start what we all hope will be a successful project for you. So do yourself a favor. Call Fox. And if you have any questions regarding copyright laws, please contact an entertainment lawyer or barrister. Phil O'Keefe Sound Sanctuary Recording Riverside CA http://members.aol.com/ssanctuary/index.html pokeefe777@msn.com This message has been edited by pokeefe777@msn.com on 10-17-2001 at 04:22 AM
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I didn't want to give the improssion that I inteded to produce this illigally, was just ignoent of what the rules were, figued this would be a good place to ask... and it was thank you all. How much are these mechnical rights? does it depend on the song/artist ect.?
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[quote]Originally posted by knemrava: [b]I didn't want to give the improssion that I inteded to produce this illigally, was just ignoent of what the rules were, figued this would be a good place to ask... and it was thank you all. How much are these mechnical rights? does it depend on the song/artist ect.?[/b][/quote] As Phil already said, full details can be found at the Harry Fox Agency website: http://www.nmpa.org/hfa.html It's a very simple procedure, you just need to fill out a form for each song on the release, then send quarterly payments to the HFA as the recordings are sold. I believe that the statutory rate is around 7 cents per song per unit sold. The only thing that changes this is if the recorded version is longer than (I think) 5 minutes, in which case it's something like an additional cent per minute. P.S. I'm NOT a lawyer, so DON'T take this as legal advice, but I know of many, many, many independent releases that have sold in the range of 1000 copies and paid no mechanical royalties (we're talking here about starving underground artists covering songs by Led Zep/U2/Beatles/Stones - folks who don't NEED the money, and in the former case, are guilty of having not paid royalties to starving blues artists for songs they covered/"rewrote"); in general, lawyers are unlikely to waste their time over offenders *unless* they're selling large numbers of units (like at least 5 figures). Or unless they ASK for it, by doing something stupid (but funny!) like titling their release 'U2', and including an unrecognizable U2 "cover" with samples of the original song and of Casey Casem spouting off obscenities about somebody's dead dog [img]http://www.musicplayer.com/ubb/wink.gif[/img].
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[quote]in general, lawyers are unlikely to waste their time over offenders *unless* they're selling large numbers of units (like at least 5 figures). Or unless they ASK for it, by doing something stupid (but funny!) like titling their release 'U2', and including an unrecognizable U2 "cover" with samples of the original song and of Casey Casem spouting off obscenities about somebody's dead dog .[/quote] You're talking about Negativland. That was a funny tune, but a sad story. There's a documentary called "Sonic Outlaws" that goes into depth on the whole story, but I don't know if anyone outside of the Bay Area has ever seen it (Leathertounge video in SF may still have a copy.) I've always dug sample-based music--especially when it was beneath the radar screen of the big labels. The Orb's "Adventures beyond the Ultraworld" and "Endtroducing" by DJ Shadow are two albums that may never had been created in today's climate.
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