Concerning Copyright Issues..

[musicmad]

Hi

concerning copyright issues in the audio domain, for example, in America they have the US copyright office where you can register your copyright for protection, Should anyone make an infringment upon your copyright, you are then liable to sue for monetary damages. In fact registering your copyright is a requirement with the US copyright office. In contrast, does anyone know if a similar thing exists in the UK

Thanks

Lee1

[john]

Hi

There is no government run copyright registration:

http://www.ipo.gov.uk/protect/protect-shou...should-copy.htm

Though there are places to register your song that do strengthen your copyright ownership claim. Check out the professional bodies links:

http://business.songstuff.com/links/United...essional_Bodies

If you have music on the web etc i would still recommend registration with the US service.

Cheers

John

[musicmad]

Hi

There is no government run copyright registration:

http://www.ipo.gov.uk/protect/protect-shou...should-copy.htm

Though there are places to register your song that do strengthen your copyright ownership claim. Check out the professional bodies links:

http://business.songstuff.com/links/United...essional_Bodies

If you have music on the web etc i would still recommend registration with the US service.

Cheers

John

Hi John,

thanks for your feedback, basically i'm a composer writing a lot of stuff, soon to be on CD for commercial sale. I understand i need to register with a protection society like MCPS in the UK, in order to recieve a document to take to the replication plant to prove i'm the author of the work, whereas then i get clearance from the replication plant for my CD'S to be manufactured. Should people wish to use and pay for the music, would this be the distributing proccess where i would recieve royalties from MCPS??? The only catch is i live in the Canary islands, would MCPS still protect me even thought i live abroad??? Where would i stand in all of this???

Thanks

Lee1

[Lazz]

Hi Lee - (Hi John).

Excuse me for barging in to the conversation.

I believe you may be mis-leading yourself by thinking of MCPS as a ‘protection’ society.

The PRS/MCPS Alliance and PPL (and VPL) are ‘collection’ societies.

Benefits Of Membership:

* If ever it boils down to a fight over authorship (unlikely, but it does happen), registration of title with official societies is one of the things a court considers.

* If ever it turns out that there are royalties (from performance, reproduction or broadcast) due to you (unlikely, but it does happen) those are the societies which collect on your behalf.

Could You Become A Member ?

I know plenty of PRS/MCPS members who live elsewhere. So even though you live on one of the Isles of Dogs (which one? whereabouts?) there is probably no problem. But they have qualifying requirements. Also a membership fee. Why not ask them about it directly ? They’d be the guys to give the right answers. Very friendly and helpful they are, too.

Website: PRS/MCPS

Phone: (44) 207 580 5544

Documentation For The Replication Plant ?

It makes sense that they’ll want you to sign something so they are indemnified in case of any breach, but I have never heard before of a manufacturer requiring proof of your own copyright.

Used to be the plant would log usage with MCPS and then MCPS would send you a bill. Maybe things have changed over there too. Here across the Atlantic nowadays, they need to either have you sign that the copyright is your own or, if it belongs to someone else, they’ll want to see that you’ve paid the statutory rate to the collecting agency before they run the order.

A Potential Dilemma For You:

What’s supposed to happen is that you pay MCPS for mechanicals on your repro job, then MCPS eventually distributes that royalty back to you less their own taste for administration and expenses.

So you’d be paying yourself and paying them for the privilege.

It makes financial sense in such circumstances to cut out that middle-man somehow.

You might perhaps discuss this scenario with them when you call.

There are precedents for solutions.

[john]

Hey

Quite right Lazz. Happy to have you field a question.

I don't see any reason why you couldn't join, but those collection societies are responsible for collecting monies from within the UK. They do collect from other areas via corresponding bodies in other countries. One thing I am not sure of is that there was an intended expansion of regions for direct collection for european collection bodies to allow them to collect directly from across the EU, just not sure if that is in force yet.

Yet again there are some private song registration schemes aimed at improving the ability to prove copyright ownership of a work, but they are not government bodies.

Cheers

John

[Lazz]

intended expansion of regions for direct collection for european collection bodies to allow them to collect directly from across the EU, just not sure if that is in force yet.

Dunno either.

But there is obviously something going on.

PRS currently trumpet that they are cheaper than other euro rights/collection societies.

The whiff of competitiveness suggested to me that we are free to join whichever one we choose.

Has to help if you speak the same language, though.

[typo]

totally agree. contact the agencies involved.