Performance Rights

[21Miles]

Hi,

 

If anyone can help with this I would be grateful

I have recently been accepted by a music licensing company to provide songs for their roster.

To produce the songs I have hired various musicians including vocals and all instrumentation.

The company have asked me to quote all the musicians they played on the tracks because they qualify for performing rights payments.

Is this correct, even if I paid them for their services?

[21Miles]

Hi,

 

Thanks for your reply. I am new to this and it would seem it’s a complicated subject.

I submitted my songs to the company and they reviewed them and now they will try to sell them to anyone who requires media (TV, Radio, Films etc). The deals are non exclusive so I still have all the usual rights to the work. This is a common process with several internet based organisations performing this service. You audition by sending your songs and if you are accepted they represent your music and actively promote it.

As part of the contract I need to quote the musicians who have performed on the tracks. The musicians are all studio session players and come with a long list of recommendations.

Nothing about the process has been underhand in any way and the tracks are performed to the highest quality.

I did not sign any agreements with the musicians with regard to royalties and their services were accepted by me once the tracks were recorded.

I think, as the media companies concerned are in the US, they will not want to limit the  opportunities that are available to the tracks so they want to  cover all the bases and have requested the  details musicians concerned.    

Any further thoughts would be appreciated.

[writeandwrong]

Hi, 21miles. You may want to seek advice from an entertainment lawyer to go over the contract provided on the licensing company to ensure you understand all it entails.

 

Do you have a written agreement with these musicians you have paid that was agreed on before they started? Does that contract hand over all their rights to you?

 

Even if you paid them, they are on the recordings, and unless there is some contractual agreement that states otherwise, it seems they would qualify for performing rights payments if you have or if the licensing company publishes your digitized recording that uses those musicians. If they are just listening to it and redo it with their own musicians...the ones you paid wouldn't see any of it (unless you have published a recording with the musicians you used)...again...depending on any agreements.

 

Non-writer musicians can receive artist royalties if they are signed to a label and a recording agreement is involved stating that fact, which might be what is going on here. This has nothing to do with Copyright. Copyright is only for the owners/writers.

 

This is only my take on this. I am not a lawyer. I don't work for the copyright office but most importantly, without seeing all the agreements, etc. it's difficult to fully offer the advice you need, I suggest you seek professional advice as I said in the beginning.

 

Cheryl

[MikeRobinson]

And I would echo that sentiment.  Your situation sounds "fuzzy" and "ambiguous" and "not nailed-down in (sufficient) writing," and that's just not a good situation to be in.  As they say, "everyone who's staring at each other in a courtroom, every one of them unhappy, started out as friends."

 

Consult a friendly attorney who knows, or who knows someone who does know.  (You should have an attorney, regardless.)  Make sure that the proper documentation as recommended by him or her is properly signed and executed, and that it is kept forever.  Verbal agreements and "handshakes," sincere though they might be, simply are not enough in cases like this.  Especially if your song does go anywhere, people are gonna get hurt, and they'll be finger-pointing at one another because everybody basically has their pants down; has walked into this thing ignorant and un-prepared.  Which is an entirely avoidable situation to be in.  "Don't go there," and if you are there, "get out of there."

 

Laws are changing all the time; precedents are being set and reset.  As Judge Wopner said so long ago on People's Court:  "Get it in writing!"  All of the parties in this situation need this to be squared away, now.

Edited February 4, 2014 by MikeRobinson