Here's an interesting read on copyright stuff
Ten Tips for Songwriters: Credits, Copyrights, and Coauthors
by Attorney Richard Stim </author.cfm/ObjectID/8F73D20C-D646-4BE6-BC68EC54257E5C5A>
You may have a great song, but you need these ten legal and business tips to make a hit.
You may have written an outstanding song with a fabulous melody, great lyrics, and memorable hooks. But that, by itself, is not enough to fill your mailbox with royalty checks. Somebody who understands the music publishing business -- either you, your cowriters, or your manager -- has to aggressively milk the song for its full potential. These days this has to be done by guerilla marketing, timing, coincidence, and luck. Here are ten legal and business tips that will help.
1. Figure Out Songwriting Credits, Now!
If you’re working with another songwriter or if you’re writing songs in a band, don’t wait until there’s a deal or somebody wants to record your song to determine who wrote what. If you wait, you could find yourself trying to sort out credits and payments with band members who have long since left the group. When you finish creating a song, talk openly about it with your collaborators and agree as to how to split any potential revenues. Keep in mind that many bands include nonwriting members in the loop for songwriting income. You don’t need a formal contract on who gets the credits; an informal written agreement will suffice.
Consider a Band Partnership Agreement
If you’re in a band that’s earning money, owns equipment, and has a working career, a band partnership agreement -- an agreement that sorts all kinds of band business details -- is a good idea. For help on creating a band partnership agreement, including blank agreements on disk, see Music Law: How to Run Your Band’s Business </product.cfm/objectID/8C36B5C2-9260-45A3-8B8FF5ABDC4CA740/310/>, by Rich Stim (Nolo).
2. Yes, the Rhythm Section Can Write Songs
The choice of instrument is not the best criteria for determining who wrote a song. Yes, it’s true that a songwriting copyright is awarded to those who jointly contributed to the song’s structure, chord progressions, and lyrics. But it’s also true -- especially in rock, pop, and dance music -- that a bass or drum part is so integral to the song that it becomes as important as the melody. For example, think of the memorable bass riffs on “Come Together� or “White Lines,� or the drum solo on “Wipeout.� In that case, the members of the band may determine among themselves that the contributor of the riff be included as a songwriter. In addition, you’re always free to throw out traditional rules and decide amongst yourselves to share equally (or by some other formula) in all band-written tunes.
3. Publicize Songwriters' Names
Once you’ve established who wrote a song, make that information public. When preparing music for downloads -- for example MP3s, AACs, or WMAs -- make use of the text tags that allow you to encode the names of the songwriters and any related copyright information. Also include information on how to contact you or your music publisher. As songs get bounced infinitely around cyberspace, you may find that this is the most reliable means for others to determine who wrote your song and how to contact you in the event that someone wants to use the song for a commercial purpose.
4. Consider Cowriting With a Dead Songwriter
Having trouble writing a catchy tune? You might consider trying the approach of Vera Matson, who took a civil war song, "Aura Lee," and added her own lyrics. The result was "Love Me Tender," a monster hit for Elvis Presley and many other artists. Older music like "Aura Lee" isn’t protected by copyright, and therefore is said to be in the “public domain.� It's free for anyone to copy.
All songs published before 1923 are in the public domain and can be copied freely. Of course, anyone else is free to use these tunes as well -- for example, anyone can write their own tune using the melody of Aura Lee -- but nobody will be able to copy the unique elements that you add. For more information about locating tunes in the public domain, consult Steve Fishman’s book The Public Domain: How to Find Copyright-Free Writings, Music, Art & More </product.cfm/objectID/CF0946AF-06EA-46EF-A2FC0F9F99DB505D/310/> (Nolo).
5. Register With BMI and ASCAP
BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.) and ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers) -- known as performance rights organizations -- monitor radio and television stations, nightclubs, websites, and other entities that play music. They collect royalties from these places and pay the royalties to the music publishers and songwriters.
These payments are often the most reliable, consistent check received by songwriters. One great thing about your BMI and ASCAP payments is that you are paid directly by the performance rights organization -- not through the publisher or manager. So, make sure you register with one of these organizations and that your information is current. For more information, check their websites www.bmi.com <http://www.bmi.com/> and www.ascap.com <http://www.ascap.com/>.
6. Don't Be Afraid to Give Up the Copyright for a Deal
"Don’t give up your copyright," is the cry often heard from musicians and songwriters. Yes, it’s true that the music business is rife with tales of woe about songwriters like Richard Berry, who gave up his copyright for “Louie, Louie� for $750. (Berry eventually won a $2 million court judgment over the song.)
The reality is that just about every songwriter who signs with a major music publisher gives up the copyright to the song. In return, the songwriter is paid a hefty portion of the royalties over the life of the copyright. Quite often the songwriter, not the music publisher, earns the heftier share of the songwriting royalties and benefits from the music publisher’s hustle. So don’t be afraid to sign off on copyright if you’re dealing with a reputable music publisher, as long as you’re comfortable with the publisher and you've had a seasoned music business attorney examine the deal for you.
7. Think Outside the CD
Used to be the only way for songwriters to get paid was from radio play and record sales. But changes in technology have altered the ways in which songs earn money. Did you know, for example, that the source for most music listening hours is neither CDs nor radio -- it’s video games, a market for music writers that didn’t exist 20 years ago?
In addition, advertising agencies, motion picture and TV companies, and Internet websites have all opened up new licensing opportunities. For example, MTV discovered one songwriter at MP3.com and licensed his music for background in its Real World television series, resulting in payments from MTV and later from BMI.
8. Getting a Larger Piece of the Pie Doesn’t Matter … If There Is No Pie
If you create your own music publishing company you’ll get 100% of the songwriting revenue. If you sell your song to an existing music publisher you’ll probably earn 60-75% of the song revenue. On that basis, many songwriters turn down potential publishing deals thinking they’d rather get the whole enchilada. But as songwriter Billy Preston wrote, “Nothing from nothing is nothing.�
Don’t assume that getting a larger percentage of the revenue is always better. An established publisher may be better equipped to get you deals, especially lucrative ones like putting your songs in a movie or an advertisement.
9. Don’t Worry About Copyright; It’s Automatic
Musicians often believe that you can’t have a copyright without obtaining a copyright registration -- that is, sending documentation off to Washington, D.C. However, for most countries, including the U.S. and Canada, no registration is necessary. All that is required for a song to be copyrighted is that it be "original" and "fixed." “Original� means that the song is original to the writer and that it was not copied from another source. A work is “fixed� when it exists in some tangible manner such as sheet music, a tape recording, or saved onto a computer disk.
Even though copyright registration is not necessary to protect your song, it can help protect it from infringement, especially if your song is registered prior to an infringement or within three months of its release (you may be able to recover more money from an infringer in that case). For more information on copyright registration, see Music Law: How to Run Your Band’s Business </product.cfm/objectID/8C36B5C2-9260-45A3-8B8FF5ABDC4CA740/310/>, by Rich Stim (Nolo), or check out the U.S. Copyright Office website at www.copyright.gov <http://www.copyright.gov/>.
10. Let Your Landlord Pay for Your Songwriting Career
If you regularly use part of your home exclusively to compose and record your songs, and you have no other fixed location where you do such things, you can claim a home office tax deduction. How much you can claim toward your home office deduction depends on how much (what percentage) of your home you use as a home office or studio.
For example, if you use 20% of your home, you can allot 20% of your home office expenses to the home office deduction. If you rent your home, the main expense that qualifies is your rent; if you own your home, you can deduct depreciation, mortgage interest, and property taxes. In addition, renters and owners can deduct the same percentage of other expenses for keeping up and running the home (for example, electricity, gas, insurance).
(Note, if you’re not careful when you take the home office deduction, you may have to pay some extra taxes when you sell your home -- you could lose the capital gains tax exemption on the home office portion of your home. But as long as you live in the home two out of the five years before you sell it, you should avoid this.) For more information on the home office deduction, read IRS Publication 587, Business Use of Your Home, available from www.irs.gov <http://www.irs.gov/>, or Nolo's book Deduct It! </product.cfm/objectID/9140836B-FBAD-49C7-9E66B94943D9B832/213/287/>, by Steve Fishman.
Ron
