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Selling sound recordings

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TexMan

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? New Jersey/Tennessee

I live in NJ. I paid to have demos made of songs that I wrote (they were recorded in Nashville, TN). Am I entitled to sell the resulting sound recordings, and if so, can they be sold under my own name or other name of my choosing? (I do not perform on the demos.)

The musicians/producer did not sign a work-for-hire agreement, though after the fact the producer said he was okay with me selling them. If sales were significant, he would want producer's points.

There are two singers. One said he was okay with me selling them, though I only have his permission in an email. The other singer wanted to be paid an additional fee per song for me to use his performance, and requested that I not use his name.

Can/should I copyright the sound recordings? Do I need to pay royalties to the producer/musicians/singers? Do I need them to sign a legal document granting me permission to sell the sound recordings, even though I paid them to record them?

Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks!What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
 


The Occultist

Senior Member
Those that created the work, the musicians and any song writer that may not be one of the performers, all hold a copyright to the work. So, you hold part of the copyright, and this means you can do whatever you like with the work. This also means they others can do whatever they like. If anybody makes any sort of profit off of the work, then that profit must be split among everybody that can claim copyright over the work. If you want them to give up the copyright to you, then have an IP attorney draft a contract that transfers ownership to you.
 

divgradcurl

Senior Member
Did the musicians that performed the song "add" anything to the song? In other words, did the musicians just perform the music and lyrics you wrote, as written, or did they contribute to the development of the final song is some meaningful way?

There are two copyrights in any piece of recorded music -- a copyright in the underlying musical work (the song), and a copyright in the recorded performance, the sound recording.

Based on what you have written, it appears that you and maybe one or more of the musicians would be co-owners of the musical work copyright. The producer who did the recording would hold the copyright to the sound recording, absent a contract stating to the contrary.

You should obtain either written permission from the producer to reproduce and distribute the demo or purchase the copyright to the sound recording outright, perhaps the "producer's points" would be sufficient payment. Either way, do it in writing.

As for the musical work copyright, even if there are multiple owners, and one owner can authorize the reproduction and distribution of sound recordings based on the musical work, but would need to share profits with the other copyright holders. If you want to really, really avoid trouble in the future, get the musicians to sign over any rights they have in the songs to you.

In the future, your best bet is to spell all of this stuff out in writing first.

EDIT: Also, as for the naming issue, there is no right to attribution under U.S. copyright laws, so you do not have to give the musicians credits, and you can release the work under any name you want. That said, not giving the musicians credit, or taking credit for their work, may be professionally frowned upon, but it is not illegal.
 
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TexMan

Junior Member
Thanks for the info. I believe the musicians contributed to the sound recording, but not to the writing of the song in any meaningful way. They were paid for recording the songs. Am I supposed to pay them royalties as well?

The producer has granted me permission (via email) to sell the sound recordings. Both singers have granted permission as well, although one wants some extra money upfront.

Do their emails constitute sufficient permission? Or do I need the producer and singers to sign a legal document? If so, is there a standard document I can purchase, or do I need to hire a lawyer to do this?

Finally, the producer did mention producer's points, esp. if the sales were significant, more than a couple thousand. What constitutes producer's points?

Thanks!
 

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