Don't understand the crediting of songs?

[dr5euss]

Hi,

 

I was looking in my Eagles' tab book and was interested in the 'Words and Music by xxxxx'.

 

Don Henley and Glenn Frey are the two names that pop up, even on songs with some mega guitar solos. Neither of them really play lead electric, so I'm assuming they didn't write the solos...so does the guy that did not get any credit?

 

 

 

Let me open this out more widely; say I wrote a song, melody and lyrics and set them to chords on an acoustic. I don't do lead, so I get a guy to write the lead. Do I then add him into the 'Words and Music by dr5euss and A. Guy', although I wrote a majority of the song? That doesn't seem fair, unless I get 85% and he get's 15% or so.

 

 

I'm just interested in how people who don't necessarily play lead guitar, or saxophone, can still write the parts - do they have basic piano skill and bang it out on that?

 

Thanks,

[blue2blue]

Embellishments don't have anything to do with song copyright. Unless an instrumental part is considered an integral part of the song -- a key riff, for instance, such as the "Can't Get No Satisfaction" riff -- instrumental parts, whether bass, keyboard, guitar, sax, whatever don't have anything to do with song copyright.

 

Now, it is possible to copyright and publish an arrangement of a song (such as with horn and string parts), but that's a somewhat different issue. (And I'll defer on that subtopic to anyone who actually knows anything about it.)

 

Also, of course, recordings of the song are separately copyrightable.

 

So, when you write the melody and words to a song, those are the key elements.

 

(Someone else can set a different melody to the exact same chords and that would be an entirely different work in the eyes of the copyright laws.)

[Tullsterx]

The "song" consists of the chord-structure and the lyrics and melody. Done!

 

Nothing else is not covered under the copyright to my knowledge. The cool riff might be covered if it's an integral part of the song but the solo is definitely not part of the "song".

 

Or that's the way I understand it.

[masterbuilt]

Yep, that's it. Melody and lyrics. Simple as that. Forget bass lines, forget lead licks. In fact, chances are that you lead player will never play the song exactly the same as the previous time except by chance.

 

According to copyright law, the song is lyrics and melody. You cannot copyright a set of lyrics by themselves, unless placed in a "book" of verse. Then, you would not use PA or SR copyright forms.

 

What you might want to do is visit the Library of Congress website and read their PDFs on copyright laws and what is or is not protected. That will leave no doubt in your mind.

 

And while we are discussing this, you cannot copyright the name of your band, but, you can copyright the "logo" artwork.

[dr5euss]

Interesting stuff, thanks guys

 

So presumably the lead guitar and bass player gets their monies from the playing of the recorded song?

[masterbuilt]

Interesting stuff, thanks guys So presumably the lead guitar and bass player gets their monies from the playing of the recorded song?

 

They make money for playing. They get a share of the gigs, the record profits, but not the song royalties.

 

When you see that artist get on average about eleven cents a record and songwriter get nine cents per track they wrote, then figure in the "performance royalties" for radio play that the songwriters get... the writers make a lot more money.

 

That is the business side of things.

 

Now some bands have more writers than others. All four members of Queen wrote songs. That is very rare, though.

 

Most people on these boards don't understand this writer credit concept. So, don't feel bad about asking. When you play with people in a band, that is one thing you need to clarify so that everyone understands this.