Members nos Posted December 12, 2007 Members Share Posted December 12, 2007 Got a question and please forgive me if I'm posting it in the wrong place: My band has done a "pseudo-cover" and we want very badly to put it on our CD that we are almost ready to release. We are wondering what are the legal ins-and-outs of doing this. By pseudo-cover, I mean this: we found an old 45 of a Bollywood song recorded in the 60s in India. We really liked the groove but the lyrics were in another language and the vocal delivery was very idiosyncratic. As we worked on trying to cover it, it became apparent we wouldn't be able to pull it off as recorded. So we reworked it, keeping some elements of the bassline/chord progression and vocal melody. Our singer wrote new lyrics for it. Turns out our audience was crazy about the song and it's been a favorite of both ours and theirs. Also turns out the song was HUGE in India. Some people of Indian descent who have attended our shows KNOW the song, even though it was written before they were born. The singer just toured through town a couple months back. We had NO idea anyone else had even heard the song. So here's the question: What do we have to do to get clearance to release the song? It's not as clear-cut as an actual cover. Isn't it more like getting clearance for a sample in rap? Anyone have any idea how to approach this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members flatfinger Posted December 12, 2007 Members Share Posted December 12, 2007 You have to find out who the publisher who has the rights to the song is if any. You can then negotiate . If you release it and the publisher finds out , they will want to negotiate , but probably in an advisarial manner !!! See if one of those indian fans parents can look on a record ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members slight-return Posted December 12, 2007 Members Share Posted December 12, 2007 There's a similar thread going on in the Music Biz forum right now - so ther might be some useful info there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members slight-return Posted December 12, 2007 Members Share Posted December 12, 2007 whoops! I was thinkging "wow! this is like the same issue this other guy has!" then I noticed, it IS you maybe a crosslink would help (or just use this to vector peeps to the other thread so you've got a cohesive deal) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nos Posted December 12, 2007 Author Members Share Posted December 12, 2007 Thanks for the help, folks. I realized after I posted here that maybe the other board would be a more appropriate place to post. But I still thought you all might have some valuable input. Anyway, here's the link to the other thread: http://acapella.harmony-central.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1827981 Thanks!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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