Sunny_Jake
Joined: Apr 05, 2025
Posts: 74
Yukon
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Posted on Apr 19 2025 09:52 AM
Well... maybe this is old news. But I just read the "new" Bandcamp Terms of Use (okay, it's from Nov 11, 2024), and it states:
"You must own or control all rights to everything you upload. That means covers are out, unless you have a written license or authorization from the owner of the composition to upload the cover to Bandcamp and grant us the rights in the terms below. Do not upload cover songs unless you have obtained all permissions and authorizations in writing! These requirements apply regardless of whether you’re selling the music or giving it away."
This is surprising to me as it would greatly affect MANY surf bands who do mixes of originals and covers or "reinterpretations", as well as listeners who may suddenly have tracks removed from records they have enjoyed listening to. Has anybody noticed changes in the platform brought on by these new regulations? Are we just ignoring and carrying on? Has it affected what you have uploaded?
— Landlocked surf rocker and leader of The Surfmasters from The Yukon.
Producer/Artistic Director of the Atlin Arts & Music Festival.
Proud citizen of the Métis Nation and certified citizen of the Manitoba Métis Federation.
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psychonaut
Joined: Dec 08, 2007
Posts: 1304
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Posted on Apr 19 2025 11:32 AM
There's nothing new about the fact that you have to pay a royalty to use a copyrighted work, regardless of the medium or platform. Unless it falls under 'fair use'. Uploading a cover song to bandcamp is not considered fair use. That's what companies like Harry Fox do, they help you obtain the rights, so the authors can be compensated.
— https://www.facebook.com/coffindagger
http://coffindaggers.com/
http://thecoffindaggers.bandcamp.com
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Sunny_Jake
Joined: Apr 05, 2025
Posts: 74
Yukon
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Posted on Apr 19 2025 12:00 PM
psychonaut wrote:
There's nothing new about the fact that you have to pay a royalty to use a copyrighted work, regardless of the medium or platform. Unless it falls under 'fair use'. Uploading a cover song to bandcamp is not considered fair use. That's what companies like Harry Fox do, they help you obtain the rights, so the authors can be compensated.
Certainly, but am I reading it correctly that you must have written authorization from the owner to upload to Bandcamp?? That seems a stretch. Perhaps it's just worded strangely and you need to have a written licence or authorization to cover the song - not specifically to upload to Bandcamp. I can't imagine the copyright owner of Pipeline or Wipeout or Miserlou caring enough to write authorizations for every unsigned surf band to upload a cover to Bandcamp and earn $7 from it.
— Landlocked surf rocker and leader of The Surfmasters from The Yukon.
Producer/Artistic Director of the Atlin Arts & Music Festival.
Proud citizen of the Métis Nation and certified citizen of the Manitoba Métis Federation.
Last edited: Apr 19, 2025 12:02:33
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edwardsand
Joined: Jun 29, 2018
Posts: 801
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Posted on Apr 19 2025 02:43 PM
No, you do not need permission directly from the owner - what you need is licensing from an organization that provides that service on behalf of the owners of those rights. That's why Psychonaut pointed you to the Harry Fox company. Check it out here: www.harryfox.com
And this is what Bandcamp says on one of their help pages:
"If you’re an artist who would like to cover a track, we require that you hold or otherwise control all the rights of the music you upload. So you'll need to have a performance license (to cover streaming playback) and a mechanical license (to cover downloads) for any covers you upload to Bandcamp, which you can often obtain with the help of some third-party licensing organizations. Once you have those then you're set - but keep that paperwork on hand in case we need it for anything."
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Sunny_Jake
Joined: Apr 05, 2025
Posts: 74
Yukon
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Posted on Apr 19 2025 02:48 PM
That makes MUCH more sense. Thank you for the clarification, edwardsand.
— Landlocked surf rocker and leader of The Surfmasters from The Yukon.
Producer/Artistic Director of the Atlin Arts & Music Festival.
Proud citizen of the Métis Nation and certified citizen of the Manitoba Métis Federation.
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edwardsand
Joined: Jun 29, 2018
Posts: 801
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Posted on Apr 19 2025 02:48 PM
You are right that artists wouldn't want to deal directly with all the individual requests to cover their songs when that will only net them a few cents here and there. That's why those licensing organizations exist.
It's also the right thing to do - I'm sure you'd want to earn the proper royalties if one of your songs somehow went viral and people started doing covers of it. And all those old guys who wrote those first wave tunes (if they are still around) appreciate the additional income from covers (even if relatively small). Of course, they may not get anything if they got screwed out of the rights by the record companies back in the day.
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Sunny_Jake
Joined: Apr 05, 2025
Posts: 74
Yukon
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Posted on Apr 19 2025 03:00 PM
edwardsand wrote:
You are right that artists wouldn't want to deal directly with all the individual requests to cover their songs when that will only net them a few cents here and there. That's why those licensing organizations exist.
It's also the right thing to do - I'm sure you'd want to earn the proper royalties if one of your songs somehow went viral and people started doing covers of it. And all those old guys who wrote those first wave tunes (if they are still around) appreciate the additional income from covers (even if relatively small). Of course, they may not get anything if they got screwed out of the rights by the record companies back in the day.
Absolutely right. It was just such a poorly worded update from Bandcamp. I don't know why they don't just say you need a performance licence and a mechanical licence rather than wording it that you must "have a written license or authorization from the owner of the composition to upload the cover". That's ridiculous.
— Landlocked surf rocker and leader of The Surfmasters from The Yukon.
Producer/Artistic Director of the Atlin Arts & Music Festival.
Proud citizen of the Métis Nation and certified citizen of the Manitoba Métis Federation.
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Samurai
Joined: Mar 14, 2006
Posts: 2283
Kiev, Ukraine
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Posted on Apr 20 2025 03:00 AM
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PipelineMagazine
Joined: Mar 29, 2006
Posts: 110
London
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Posted on Apr 20 2025 05:17 AM
Presumably if you are looking to sell your CD or LP you can list any covers on there without offering those covers for download or streaming?
Alan
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Sunny_Jake
Joined: Apr 05, 2025
Posts: 74
Yukon
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Posted on Apr 20 2025 10:09 AM
PipelineMagazine wrote:
Presumably if you are looking to sell your CD or LP you can list any covers on there without offering those covers for download or streaming?
Alan
It's not a big issue for my own page yet as most of the songs I have been posting are originals, aside from a pair of covers that I have demoed for an upcoming 45 release. And to be fair, I haven't got the mechanical licences yet, but I will in time for the pro recorded versions. I was more intrigued at how it's affecting the genre on there as many bands do record many covers.
— Landlocked surf rocker and leader of The Surfmasters from The Yukon.
Producer/Artistic Director of the Atlin Arts & Music Festival.
Proud citizen of the Métis Nation and certified citizen of the Manitoba Métis Federation.
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