12 July 2008
Is Torture by Music a "Performance in Public"? Certain collectives are quick to collect money from those in nursing homes, hospitals, prisons etc. on the basis that these are "public" places. Never mind that the audience is captive and it's their home, like it or not. Well, it turns out that music is used at Guantanamo for torture purposes, according to the BBC. ... Leaving aside the legal niceties about whose law if any applies in that dreadful place, one ... more...
23 January 2008
At the same time, Last.fm is launching an unprecedented "Artist Royalty" arrangement, whereby those artists not signed with a label who choose to upload their music to Last.fm will receive payment, directly from Last.fm, every time one of their tracks is played. Glad to hear it: our friends at Last.fm are doing quite well. btw. I wouldn't say "unprecedented" because Imeem already does this royalty sharing. So does Napster actually. I make small steady royalty money from Napster, but its ... more...
4 December 2005
Dear ASCAP, The copyright status of "Happy Birthday To You" and the law related to public performances of copyrighted works have recently been brought to my attention. I would therefore like to request permission in advance to sing "Happy Birthday" to my father at Frenchy's Original Cafe in Clearwater, Florida, on October 8, at approximately 1 pm. By overwhelming clearance departments with frivolous letters, the site's creators hope to make a statement about copyright-gone-amok. more...
11 August 2005
When a song (in any recorded form) is licensed for TV, film, games, ringtones. Even a small 10 second usage in a major TV show will result in a lot more money than you can make just selling the record. There are two rights ("sides") that need to be licensed: Master-use licenseThe right to use the recording.Synchronization RightsThe right to use the song (in any recorded form). If you are the song writer and self-published (which you are by default) ... more...
19 December 2004
US Performance Royalty Organizations http://bmi.com http://www.ascap.com SESAC - mostly for country and gospel These guys collect license fees from any public place or broadcaster that plays music, and divides that money up and gives it to the composer and the recording artist. You choose to register with one of the two companies, and they send you the checks (minus some accounting fees). Here's the catch: the shares are split up based on monitoring radio and TV airplay. So club music ... more...
6 December 2004
An artist can make money in a number or different ways. [[Artist Royalties]] aka Sales Royalties - selling the record itself. [[Performance Royalties]] - every time the recording is played on radio, TV etc. it earns performance royalties. Usually not huge unless of course you have a proper hit. [[Licensing]] aka Synchronization Rights - when a recording is licensed for TV, film or games. Even a small 10 second usage in a major TV show will result in a lot ... more...
5 December 2004
Registering that copyright with the Library of Congress gives you a pretty good assurance of an easy court case if your rights are infringed. On the other hand you could just talk shit on the mic about him, blow it up into a big war and get a lot of good press out of it. For both of you. There is also the "Poor Man's copyright", mailing a cassette of the works in question to yourself via registered mail, completly ... more...
5 December 2004
USA === I'll see how much I can expand this page without taking on too major a task. US Tax law is designed to victimize the uninformed and the uneducated. Yes, some of these labels are in some aspects black market economy. You can, however, save all receipts and write off all expenditures, possibly even against earnings at your day job if you have one. You must then claim all earnings, but if you are like me and spend most ... more...
5 December 2004
http://www.nmpa.org/hfa/faq_synch.html (harry fox agency) A written authorization to use recorded music in combination with visual images (" synchronization") such as music in films, TV, videos, computer programs, web sites, etc. This can be really big money ! A commercial or even 10 little seconds in a movie can generate more money than selling 3000 copies of the damn record. Synchronization rights are often specified in the((Recording Contracts%. The Film Music Store and Film Music magazine are pleased to offer free ... more...
5 December 2004
Any sample whatsoever without permission is an infringement and needs to be cleared with the holder of the copyright. No "5 second" rule (that's a myth), no nothing. Needless to say, if you grab a single drum sound, who can tell ? Many riffs and bits are untraceable, and many copyright holders will not bother to chase you or don't even care. (or appreciate the flattery and the invigoration of their back catalog). It is perfectly legal to use samples ... more...
5 December 2004
[[Contracts]] _Recording Contracts_ In dance music, contracts can vary from a simple one sheet that just states what share of the income from the record will go to artist and label, to a full blown massive contract handling every aspect of expenditure and earning. There isn't really such a thing as a "standard contract." There are many conventions that appear on most contracts, and there are serveral spots on your normal contract where the Shadiness usually occurs. When someone cheerfully ... more...
5 December 2004
There are a number of ways that money flows in. These are all called Royalties. Artist Royalties or Sales Royalties What is usually referred to simply as "Royalties" is more properly known as Artist Royalties. This is the percentage of the record sales that the label agrees to pay the artist. This money is not in any way protected or governed by Copyright law, it is all determined in the [[Contracts|contracts]]. [[Performance Royalties]] - every time the composition and/or recording ... more...
5 December 2004
[[GEMA - Germany|Performance Royalties)) are generated every time your composition is played in public (TV, radio, café, club). In order to collect that money you have to join a Performance Royalty Organization (PRO). They monitor TV and radio and distribute the money they get according to that. In the US the money is divided 50/50 between the song writer and the publisher. If you are the song writer, you are by default also the publisher until you have signed that ... more...
5 December 2004
_Publishing Companies_ A Publishing company can take over part of the copyright in return for using their business resources to make more money out of that copyright. They can offer advances to songwriters (completely separate from any money the record label might advance). They can do the power lunch thing and get your shit on some movie soundtrack which can easily earn more money than the original record did. Major labels usually have their own publishing arm (such as Warner ... more...
5 December 2004
see also((Contracts% When the artist signs a contract with the label, sometimes a separate contract is drawn up assigning copyright to the label. In normal music, usually the artist retains the composition and the label retains the sound recording. Sometimes you assign all your copyright to the label or split it with the label. Sometimes a big label can do very aggressive money making things with that copyright (like use it as a theme song to sell hamburgers with) and ... more...
5 December 2004
The money that must be given to the copyright holder(s) every time the composition is "performed". Every radio station, club, restaraunt, and retail store (that plays music) is liable to pay the copyright holder every time they play the composition. Since you can't be there all the time checking up on these people, [[RoyaltyOrganizations]] (BMI ASCAP GEMA etc.)) were created on behalf of artists to administer these copyrights. There is a lot more money than you think generated from radio ... more...
5 December 2004
This is the money that must be paid to the owner of the (composition) copyright every time a physical copy is made of any record containing that composition. That means for every actual piece of vinyl, 8-track or cassette, a certain amount must be paid the copyright owner (usually the composer). Excluding use for broadcast, hence all the specifically marked "promo only" stuff. The artist never gets paid for those copies. Nor do they get money when their (major) label ... more...
5 December 2004
this website cannot in any way take any legal responsibility whatsoever for anything you do or sign. This is something the artist would send to the promoter to sign. Obviously this contract is meant for club/rave type gigs, and you may well not be in a position to ask for hotel or equipment or travel. Alter to suit your needs. Remember, the promoter/club has signed and seen more of these agreements than you have. No mention is made here of ... more...
5 December 2004
I'd like to get some good simple 'generic' contracts for when you have a good simple 'generic' situation and don't need to call in the lawyers. [[Recording Contracts]] [[Publishing Contracts]] Managment Contracts http://www.legaljungleguide.com/resourc/musician/contract/musicmanagers.htm [[Booking Contracts]] Licensing Contracts If anybody has actual examples of any of these, help us all out and send them to me : felix@crucial-systems.com You can buy packages of standard contracts: more...
5 December 2004
See also : [[USCopyrightRegisteration]] [[Global Copyright Registration]] [[Sampling]] This information refers specifically to US copyright, but the basic concepts of copyright are the same from country to country though, so check it out. I'm sure that someone has already worked out copyright laws for interstellar space travel. Brian Eno's contract is rumoured to cover territories other than earth, which is isn't as outlandish as you may think.... Copyright refers to a number of different rights that are initially owned by ... more...
5 December 2004
In some countries the organization that registers the copyright is also the one that collects the [[Performance Royalties]]. Australia : APRA (australia performing rights association) and AMCOS. Check out www.apra.com.au _Germany_ GEMA http://www.gema.de They collect performance royalties and also are involved with mechanicals. Apparantly you pay 50cents per 12" in order to have your record covered by GEMA. You pay this at the pressing plant ! You then get back like 20 cents but this can take a while. UK ... more...
5 December 2004
http://www.harryfox.com Primarily known for collecting [[Mechanical Royalties]] in the US. They discontinued [[Synchronization Licensing]] in 2002. HFA licenses the mechanical right, whereas ASCAP, BMI and SESAC license the performance rights. The mechanical right is separate and apart from the performing right. A publisher assigns his public performance rights to one of these societies. HFA represents ASCAP, BMI and SESAC publishers, licensing the right to record their works. HFA only represents publishing companies, not individual writers. It is primarily of benefit ... more...
