guwapo_rocker
04-07-2005, 03:02 PM
NIGHTCRAWLER BAND-AID TIP 3: When is a copyright right for you? "Any time you are having success, licensing a song or recording to a TV, movie or commercial or someone is covering your song, you definitely should," says local Attorney Peter Irvine . The good news is that protecting your tune-age from potential unwanted borrowers is probably easier -- and more affordable -- than you would think. Of course, the easiest, most affordable thing that most people automatically think of when it comes to copyrights is the fabled "poor man" version, wherein the artists mails a copy of his or her musical masterpiece to his own home, providing sealed, dated proof of the material. "Completely useless," Irvine says. "Does not hold up."
Besides, to do it all legally doesn't have to cost much more. It's literally a matter of a two-page form, two CDS and a check for $30 per composer. For example, if your guitarist, Frankie Fretboard, wrote five of the 10 songs on your disc and drummer Johnny Thunderpants wrote the rest, you'd have to pony up two checks totaling $60-- $30 dollars to cover works by Fretboard, $30 for works by Thunderpants.
Obviously, if you're in a Beatle-esque situation where everybody is contributing varying amounts and combinations on every track, this could get quite costly. My solution? Find a single, workable formula for your band and file it all jointly in one form. So in the aforementioned situation it could be "All songs Fretboard and Thunderpants" even though technically each guy wrote five themselves. Through their entire career Van Halen has attributed every song they've recorded to all four members even though Eddie obviously does the lion's share of the music writing and both Roth and Hagar (and I guess Cherone, but I try to block that album out) wrote all the lyrics. At least this gives you bonafide protection from outsiders without breaking even the meagerest of band bank accounts. And if one of your tunes does end up on the new Vin Diesel movie soundtrack and untold fortunes are at stake, the only people you'll have to fight with for your piece are the ones you stare the stage with. For more information on copyrights, including downloadable forms, visit www.copyright.gov.
Link... (http://valleyadvocate.com/gbase/Music/content?oid=oid:106846)
Besides, to do it all legally doesn't have to cost much more. It's literally a matter of a two-page form, two CDS and a check for $30 per composer. For example, if your guitarist, Frankie Fretboard, wrote five of the 10 songs on your disc and drummer Johnny Thunderpants wrote the rest, you'd have to pony up two checks totaling $60-- $30 dollars to cover works by Fretboard, $30 for works by Thunderpants.
Obviously, if you're in a Beatle-esque situation where everybody is contributing varying amounts and combinations on every track, this could get quite costly. My solution? Find a single, workable formula for your band and file it all jointly in one form. So in the aforementioned situation it could be "All songs Fretboard and Thunderpants" even though technically each guy wrote five themselves. Through their entire career Van Halen has attributed every song they've recorded to all four members even though Eddie obviously does the lion's share of the music writing and both Roth and Hagar (and I guess Cherone, but I try to block that album out) wrote all the lyrics. At least this gives you bonafide protection from outsiders without breaking even the meagerest of band bank accounts. And if one of your tunes does end up on the new Vin Diesel movie soundtrack and untold fortunes are at stake, the only people you'll have to fight with for your piece are the ones you stare the stage with. For more information on copyrights, including downloadable forms, visit www.copyright.gov.
Link... (http://valleyadvocate.com/gbase/Music/content?oid=oid:106846)