standard contract & payments to artist for reissue album

[jazzmaster62]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Indiana
what I want to know is we have an offer from a record company wanting to reissue our album
they want to prduce 500 albums(digitally copied from a mint album of ours)thus have an option to make 500 more
this is a contract stating that they have exclusive rights to this for a preiod of 3 years(vinyl only).
they want to pay us(the artists) $1.80 per album -with the clause after 1000 albums that we will negotiate that payment per album meaning (we) that we stated that this be in the contract as well.
what I need to know before this all goes through is this
is this a standard contract for such a reissue album ?

should the payments to us be much more as in we should get 80 percent and the record company 20 persent from the sale of these reissue albums ?
I have not signed the contract but did print my name

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Indiana
what I want to know is we have an offer from a record company wanting to reissue our album
they want to prduce 500 albums(digitally copied from a mint album of ours)thus have an option to make 500 more
this is a contract stating that they have exclusive rights to this for a preiod of 3 years(vinyl only).
they want to pay us(the artists) $1.80 per album -with the clause after 1000 albums that we will negotiate that payment per album meaning (we) that we stated that this be in the contract as well.
what I need to know before this all goes through is this
is this a standard contract for such a reissue album ?

should the payments to us be much more as in we should get 80 percent and the record company 20 persent from the sale of these reissue albums ?
I have not signed the contract but did print my name

It is good that you have not yet signed the contract. If you do not understand the terms well enough to be comfortable with them, I recommend you have the contract personally reviewed by an entertainment lawyer in your area.

Although there are such things as "standard" contracts, most contracts are reworded and reworked to meet the wants and needs and special conditions of the specific parties. In other words, rarely will you see anything that comes close to standard.

As a note: I see some problems in what you have stated that your attorney no doubt will see as well and will address with you.

 

[single317dad]

To add to quincy's advice, IF the parties to the contract (band members?) are not the current publication rights holders for any of the album material, then anyone having rights to any of the material will have to be involved also. This would include the album design owner, songwriters, performers (maybe), or anyone who bought all or part of the rights through an investment.

 

[quincy]

To add to quincy's advice, IF the parties to the contract (band members?) are not the current publication rights holders for any of the album material, then anyone having rights to any of the material will have to be involved also. This would include the album design owner, songwriters, performers (maybe), or anyone who bought all or part of the rights through an investment.

That was just one of the many issues I saw that needs to be investigated and addressed prior to signing the contract.

Music contracts tend to be far more complex than most contracts. All creative artists need to be wary of signing away exclusive rights in their works. They need to understand exactly what it is they will gain in exchange.

A personal review of the contract in its entirety by a professional well-versed in entertainment law - who can explain to the artist all of the contract's terms and what signing the contract will mean - is important. There are a few companies out there who prey on musicians.