recording copyright

donegal_road · 21-03-2012 11:16am #1

Hi, just a quick question... is there some sort of legal form available that a band could sign prior to recording, that would ensure that all arrangements on the recording are owned by the musicians on the recording. In this circumstance, the songs are traditional airs re-arranged by 3 musicians..

thanks in advance

Esy · 21-03-2012 5:17pm

donegal_road wrote: »

Hi, just a quick question... is there some sort of legal form available that a band could sign prior to recording, that would ensure that all arrangements on the recording are owned by the musicians on the recording. In this circumstance, the songs are traditional airs re-arranged by 3 musicians..

thanks in advance

I'm not an expert but I'm pretty sure putting your tunes on a website like Myspace or Soundcloud or Bandcamp should protect you. Once they are online, they are published......I think.

Grolschevik · 21-03-2012 5:56pm

I think the real issue is whether you can have copyright in an arrangement.

From IMRO:

Secondly, for an arrangement of a non-copyright work to attract copyright protection it must fulfil the originality criterion. This criterion is determined in the event of a dispute by the courts by case law that has indicated that a relatively low level of creative input or originality is sufficient to warrant copyright protection.

In the case of Irish traditional music, no copyright issues arise when the music performed is part of a body of work that has been passed down from the time that would clearly indicate that any responsible copyright term has expired, and usually the origins of the music are anonymous. Variation and ornamentation tend to be the distinguishing features of the contemporary performance of this music. Such embellishments, however, do not create a new copyright arrangement because they exist only in the performance and not, as previously indicated, in any tangible form, such as writing or a recording. In such situations, it is presumed that artistic considerations only arise if the embellishments referred to are repeated by a third party. However, should recordings be made of such performances a right is recognised in those versions of the performance.

And, with regard to royalty payments: Traditional works arranged by you are afforded exactly the same standard of payment as those that you have composed.

From: http://www.imro.ie/content/music-makers-faq

raindog.promo · 21-03-2012 7:36pm

If you pay for the recording and retain the masters then no one can play those recordings without your permission. Not too sure where you stand if someone copies the way you played the arrangement.

off.the.walls · 22-03-2012 5:49pm

once you have a song recorded and published copyright belongs to you however if you break a deal with a studio aka don't pay the allotted amount sometimes a studio will hold onto the masters untill you've paid in full and they retain partial copyright.

recording copyright

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