Music Copyright

[rockqueen]

Maryland

Issue: I am currently in a band that has been around for 4 years. We had a bass player for about a year and a half who we had to ask too leave due to violent out bursts and drug use.

During the course of that person being in the band they co-wrote a song w/ myself, supplying the basic melody which the band tweaked and rearranged and we shared in the lyric writing. The song was recorded and copyrighted under our band's name (we have no partnership agreement or any legal signings).

Now this person is saying we can no longer play the song and has gone on to use the song in other bands using the same lyrics I wrote, the same arrangement and similiar guitar parts that were not written by them.

It is my understanding that since we own the copyright that person has no legal claim to it. We aren't asking them to stop playing it though its odd that they would, can we ask them to stop?

 

[hexeliebe]

Unless you hire an attorney to sit down with this person and work out a shared copyright agreement that entitles both bands to play the music and pay royalties, you're going to be in a lengthy and expensive legal battle.

Just because you have registered the song under your copyright doesn't mean the bass player doesn't have a claim. The fact that you agree he wrote the basic melody gives him a claim.

 

[rockqueen]

Well money wise her royalties would probably come to about 20 bucks a year or something small like that. We are not on a label..very DIY stuff.

Also I am very much the co-author of the song and I just read this on the music-law.com webpage

"The Copyright Act states that each co-author has an indivisible share to the entire copyright. This means that each person owns the entire copyright. The copyright is not divided into portions according to the contribution of each author. The primary reason behind this is how can you decide who contributed what? Joe did the first verse and part of the chorus and Sara did the bridge and guitar solo and . . . you get the point. It is impossible to divide a song up in this manner. An analogy lawyers like to use is when you scramble an egg, you can't separate it.

This form of joint ownership can have some interesting consequences. For example, each co-author can do what they want with the copyright as long as he pays the other owners their pro rata share of the proceeds. One band member can license the song to anyone so long as he splits any money he received with the co- owners. Further, one copyright owner cannot stop another from using the song in a particular way if he disapproves. Each author can do as they please."

 

[hexeliebe]

Now get the ear plugs out of your ears, turn down the Pevey and listen to what you just quoted.

Doesn't that sound just like what I told you?

 

[rockqueen]

how interesting I actually own a peavy wolfgang. What you said was that they have claim. You did not say that we or that I might have any claim

 

[hexeliebe]

I didn't think I had to since you said it in your quote from the website. And I own a Gibson White Dove special, a 1947 Martin acoustic and a 1964 Sears Silvertone fully restored

 

[rockqueen]

but mr. smarty pants I didn't supply the qoute until after you scolded me I need a new guitar but alas I don't have the $ right now..I need a new tattoo first

 

[hexeliebe]

If you are a red head and have a thong one of our regulars here would gladly do the honors...

But it might wash off if you shower

 

[rockqueen]

Nope not a redhead..well not naturally anyway

 

[counsel]

Copyright gives the owner the right to control copying, performance or modification (among other things) of a song. Therefore, the owner could prevent the other from playing or changing the song.

If the band owns the copyright, and there is no written partnership agreement, then the rights likely would be determined by the oral agreement the band members made about copyright ownership.