Members Toast Posted October 14, 2002 Members Share Posted October 14, 2002 Okay, here's the situation. We have a total of 10 songs we recorded in the studio at 2 seperate times. I wrote 3 of them, and by that I mean the chord progression, the bass line, the melody, the counter melodies and the lyrics. I helped write 2 of them. The remainder are songs where the only thing I wrote was whatever I was playing on my guitar or singing with my voice. Given that over time, band members sometimes go into different directions, I want to protect the creative property that is my own, while at the same time I want to share credit with my bandmates, some of whom I've been friends with since college. As far as copywriting goes, the rest of the guys are slackers. So it's up to me as far as what happens in regards to copywriting, I suppose. Sure, I could technically just copywrite everything and screw the rest of the guys. But that's not really my intention. Should I copywrite my songs twice, once as the band and once as myself? Or should I copywrite my songs individually and the rest as the band's? Sorry if this topic has been approached before. But thanks for all your answers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members EngineGuitarist Posted October 15, 2002 Members Share Posted October 15, 2002 you can't copyright it twice. you should copyright the 3 songs you wrote. with the 2 you helped on tell the other guys you think its a good idea to copyright them. if they're slackers then you'll have to do the work getting the forms mailing them in and having your buddies sign them, IMO this could warrant a slightly higher percentage of credit on the copyright. say you wrote 40% of the song, make it 50%. afterall you're doing all the paperwork and as of yet you aren't making money, but if/when you start to make money your bandmates will thank you for copyrighting the songs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BlueStrat Posted October 15, 2002 Members Share Posted October 15, 2002 And don't confuse "writing" with "arranging". Just because your drummer came up with a fill or a little break part doesn't make him a songwriter. Strictly speaking, a song is comprised of a melody, support chords, and lyrics, and even the chords are optional in copyrighting. Things like rhythm, placement of the bridge, key change, breaks, chord substitutions-all those things are part of arrangements. When Eric Clapton redid James Taylor's "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight" as a slow 6/8 blues tune, that doesn't mean he re-wrote the song. He just did an arrangement of an existing one. I have written lots of songs, and players in my band have come and gone, and you know what? Every new guy adds something different to my songs than the last guy did. Am I going to give them writer's credit? Not until one contributes a lyric line, vocal melody, or an entire bridge section. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Crimson Warlock Posted October 17, 2002 Members Share Posted October 17, 2002 Also note that the word is "copyright," not copywrite." This legal term deals with the rights of the owner. You would be able to register the 3 songs you noted, and portions of the 2 -- but in order to register them, you will need to get the information from your cowriter(s). You cannot register the other 5 if you only contributed a guitar line here or your voice on someone else's words there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Toast Posted October 17, 2002 Author Members Share Posted October 17, 2002 Originally posted by Crimson Warlock Also note that the word is "copy right," not copy write." This legal term deals with the rights of the owner. You would be able to register the 3 songs you noted, and portions of the 2 -- but in order to register them, you will need to get the information from your cowriter(s). You cannot register the other 5 if you only contributed a guitar line here or your voice on someone else's words there. Yeah, I know I spelled it wrong. Particularly embarassing since I've been a Copywriter for 4 years! Guess I'm just more used to typing it that way. The songs I didn't write, I'm pretty sure I'll just copyright them by the entire band, and let everyone fight over the mess. Or perhaps I'll let that be the other guy's problem. It's not like we're gonna make a million bucks off those songs anyway. For the record, I don't sing other people's words (unless it's a cover song) Hey, thanks for the advice! You've been most helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Toast Posted October 17, 2002 Author Members Share Posted October 17, 2002 Originally posted by Crimson Warlock Also note that the word is "copy right," not copy write." This legal term deals with the rights of the owner. You would be able to register the 3 songs you noted, and portions of the 2 -- but in order to register them, you will need to get the information from your cowriter(s). You cannot register the other 5 if you only contributed a guitar line here or your voice on someone else's words there. Yeah, I know I spelled it wrong. Particularly embarassing since I've been a Copywriter for 4 years! Guess I'm just more used to typing it that way. The songs I didn't write, I'm pretty sure I'll just copyright them by the entire band, and let everyone fight over the mess. Or perhaps I'll let that be the other guy's problem. It's not like we're gonna make a million bucks off those songs anyway. For the record, I don't sing other people's words (unless it's a cover song) Hey, thanks for the advice! You've been most helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AEPOCrf Posted October 18, 2002 Members Share Posted October 18, 2002 My band uses BMI to copywrite lyrics. Real easy... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members UrBaN Posted October 19, 2002 Members Share Posted October 19, 2002 Originally posted by Toast I'll just copyright them by the entire band, and let everyone fight over the mess. Or perhaps I'll let that be the other guy's problem. It's not like we're gonna make a million bucks off those songs anyway. i can see the "behind the music" episode now!!! quickest breakup in history. dont be lazy about it...even if u think its not going to go anywhere. someone could hear it, and "buy" it from u for another artist to sing, or u could be the next million dollar act...u never know. this is a business, and u should handle it like one. if u bought a winning lottery ticket, would u give it to your drummer and say "i dont care, go cash it....we'll worry about the 10 million when u bring it home(yeah right), i trust that you'll give it all to me cause i bought it in the first place." (if u answer yes, then gimme a call, maybe we can do some callaborating in my studio...dont worry about the paperwork or money when it comes, i'll take care of it!) bottom line, dont do anyone dirty...do it right. u cant expect everyone in a band to be "the business man". take charge, get everything together and get the right names on the paperwork. it might save ya LOTS of money down the road. UrBaN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.