When you have an album pressed, there are forms you fill out that cover the licensing fees. The company you get it pressed from will provide you with the licensing fee form when the time comes.

Last edited: Nov 05, 2014 12:31:40

If you have a label at that time, the label will fill out a form provided to them by the company pressing the album.

Syndicateofsurf wrote:

This sounds a step or 2 beyond where I am. I have the recordings from my home studio and a studio that will tweak it and make copies. Am I describing a demo?

What is a studio? And what medium are they making copies on? Will you be selling the copies? If you aren't selling them then you don't have to worry.

And a demo is a frame of mind. If you intend them to be the final product you are happy with, then it isn't a demo. If you intend to you them for demonstration of what you sound might be, then it is a demo.

I think "technically" you're not supposed to post covers of songs on YouTube without having the rights to reproduce them...but obviously many tunes slip through the cracks and the worst thing to happen will probably be that your vids will be pulled.

I think Jake is incorrect on not selling the copies too. Again, you need to pay royalties for each copy produced (sold or given away free) for each cover song...from the Harry Fox Agency:

"If I'm making only a few copies/giving the CDs away/not making much money. Isn't that "fair use"?
Making a limited number of copies or giving away CDs is not "Fair Use". Unless you are creating recordings that are covered under the fair use section of the U.S. Copyright Act , you need to obtain licenses for your recordings regardless of whether or not you are selling them.

"Fair Use" is a limitation on the rights granted under U.S. Copyright Law that allows reproduction of a copyrighted work for certain purposes, such as criticism, news reporting, teaching, and research. Fair use doesn’t include small quantity recordings made for or by charity or religious organizations; nor does it exempt recordings that are distributed without charge. The distinction between "Fair Use" and infringement is often not clear and it may be advisable to consult an attorney. Willful copyright infringement can carry statutory damages up to $150,000 per infringement. "

You can license the songs through HFA. http://www.harryfox.com/find_out/aboutus.html

Assuming you're just doing a single with 100 to 300 copies, it really doesn't cost that much to license the music and CYA! We licensed Channel 9 (AKA 'hopscotch' by the Challengers) for our CD. I think we made 200 copies and it was only around $30 total...and about half of that was for handling/service charges and not royalties. If you're doing two or more songs it wouldn't be much more expensive.

www.apollo4.com

Your best bet, especially if you're a "little guy", is to get a license through the Harry Fox Agency.

Youtube is kinda hilarious, since they built their platform on illegally posting copyrighted videos by established artists (like Prince, eh?). Now (since being bought by Google and probably being sued their pants off by Prince) they 'pay' royalties, but I'm curious what those rates are like and if they actually do pay on a regular basis.

(defunct) Thee Jaguar Sharks

Plus! Other stuff not surf: https://soundcloud.com/jamesmileshq
Enjoy every minute

So glad I joined the good guys at SG101. I will spend the rest of my life thanking you all- and not from the inside of a debtor's prison cell. I will hop on the assignment list you've given and start down the road towards becoming an honest man.

In Surf,
The Syndicate of Surf

Da Vinci Flinglestein,
The quest for the Tone, the tone of the Quest

The Syndicate of Surf on YouTube

http://www.syndicateofsurf.com/

http://sharawaji.com/

http://surfrockradio.com/

Thanks. I now have the myriad of sites and services and flaming hoops lined up on my desktop.

Da Vinci Flinglestein,
The quest for the Tone, the tone of the Quest

The Syndicate of Surf on YouTube

http://www.syndicateofsurf.com/

http://sharawaji.com/

http://surfrockradio.com/

You guys are the best. Here's what I found out from HFA: (bold type mine)
"Do I Need a License to Use Music in
My YouTube Video?"
Yes, but...

A video with music contains three copyrights: the video images, the sound recording, and the underlying song composition (music publishing rights). In a video where you are performing a cover song, you might control the copyrights to the video images and sound recording but don’t control the music publishing copyrights. To use the song composition, you need to negotiate a synchronization license directly with the music publisher.

However, many music publishers have entered into license agreements with YouTube permitting the use of the songs they control in exchange for a percentage of any advertising revenues (although in some cases the publisher may set a policy that a particular song is blocked from use). As a result, in most cases, YouTube has already obtained an agreement with the music publisher. To determine whether or not a publisher is participating in an agreement with YouTube, please contact the publisher directly. Publisher contact information may be found at ASCAP or BMI.

So I'm not going to sweat the U-Tube issue. Chances are I'm legal.
As to when I burn the disks for sale I will use Harry Fox. Now, everybody SURF!!!

Da Vinci Flinglestein,
The quest for the Tone, the tone of the Quest

The Syndicate of Surf on YouTube

http://www.syndicateofsurf.com/

http://sharawaji.com/

http://surfrockradio.com/

Last edited: Nov 07, 2014 10:58:17